Things did not go as planned for the first leg of Bellator’s doubleheader weekend.
On Friday night at Bellator 215 in Uncasville, Conn., Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov were supposed to face off in a heavyweight slugfest that would get fans excited for Bellator 216 on Saturday night. Instead, the fight was was stopped in its tracks when at the start of the fight, Mitrione threw an inside leg kick that missed its mark and landed squarely in the groin of Kharitonov. The strike was so bad that Kharitonov was left writhing in pain on the floor and rendered unable to continue, causing the bout to be declared a no-contest just fifteen seconds in, ending the night on a sour note.