Video: Bellator 246 kicks off with yet another fight ended via foul

There must be something in the water in Uncasville, Conn., this weekend.

The opening bout of Saturday night’s Bellator 246, the second half of back-to-back fight cards, came to a halt late in the third round when Davion Franklin wound up and drilled Ras Hylton in the back of the head with a downward right hand and knocked him loopy.

The doctor at Mohegan Sun Arena ended things after checking on Hylton (6-5 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), who was already a bloody mess before the fight ending-sequence in the heavyweight matchup.

For those keeping track, it marked the third fight out of nine that came to a premature conclusion due to fouls. Friday night at Bellator 245, Tyrell Fortune landed a low knee to Jack May that ended their fight in a no contest. Then, on the main card, an all-time foul sequence happened when Raymond Daniels twice delivered spinning back kicks below the belt to Peter Stanonik, ending that fight in a no contest as well.

For whatever reason, referee Dan Miragliotta chose to rule the foul unintentional, despite the fact Hyland had turned his back several seconds prior. That meant the fight could not end in a disqualification, and since it was in the third round, the fight went to the scorecards. Franklin (2-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) won the bout by technical decision on scores of 30-27 across the board, which further meant the foul was not deemed worthy of a point deduction.

It’s all hard to figure, but it’s been that type of weekend.

Check out the video below and judge for yourself:

After completely gassing himself out in the first, Davion Franklin hit Ras Hylton with an illegal punch to the back of the head in the third. Because it was far enough into the fight, Franklin still ended up winning 30-27 by technical decision. #Bellator246 pic.twitter.com/DafO4bzGZl

— Will (@ChillemDafoe) September 13, 2020

At the suggestion of Dan Miragliotta, the cageside physician just examined Davion Franklin in between rounds. #Bellator246

— Nolan King (@mma_kings) September 13, 2020

Bellator 246 took place Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.