Emilee King credits teammate Taylor Turner for big win over Ava Knight at Bellator 238

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Emilee King took out a boxing champion and had an example to look back at in preparation.

King (4-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) upset WBC boxing champ Ava Knight (1-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) in her promotional debut. King submitted Knight in a little more than two minutes at Bellator 238 this past Saturday.

It wasn’t the first time a former boxing champion crossed over to the Bellator cage. Former WBO featherweight champ Heather Hardy had a rude awakening in her second MMA bout when she was battered and stopped by Kristina Williams at Bellator 185.

Hardy also took on King’s teammate, Taylor Turner, this past June and suffered a second-round TKO loss at Bellator 222.

With Taylor in King’s corner, King had the kind of pointers she needed against a boxing champion, herself.

“We absolutely did read into (Turner’s win over Hardy),” King said after her win. “I relied heavily on coach Taylor, not only for my strength and conditioning, and as like a mentor, but she relived some of her experiences with that Heather Hardy fight with me and that was a huge asset to me during this fight camp – so very thankful.”

Once the fight hit the canvas, it was right in King’s world. After a couple submission attempts, she was able to transition to a rear-naked choke and made quick work of Knight.

“My whole goal was just to get to the ground, and I knew once I hit the ground, I was fine,” King said. “I’m not sure exactly what takedown I hit. We’ve worked several throughout the game plan. It might have been a guard pull, to be honest. But I knew I threw one side kick, and that was kind of the game plan – of setting up the takedowns with the kicks. And after that, it was just hunt for the submissions, so one after the other.”