Jason Radcliffe lifted the middleweight title in bizarre fashion at Contenders Norwich 17 on Saturday night.
Demolition man Radcliffe (now 11-2) came into his title fight with France's Wilfried Edmund having won five straight fights in the first round.
But perhaps cognizant of Edmund's durability – his foe having never been stopped – the packed crowd at the Norfolk Showground were treated to a more patient, surgical approach by Radcliffe, who was slowly picking apart his opponent and stuffing numerous takedown attempts.
At the end of the third round, Edmund, with his nose bleeding profusely, started to celebrate – apparently unaware that the title fight was five, five minute rounds.
Upon being told there were still two rounds left, Edmund simply refused to fight and walked out of the cage.
With a bemused Radcliffe watching on, referee Daniel Movahedi was forced to wave off the contest.
An almost apologetic Radcliffe duly received the belt, while Edmund (now 6-3) left the stage to a chorus of boos.
Promoter Steve Newman said: 'It was absolutely bizarre. Jason's corner looked to me and said 'it's five rounds, isn't it? And I said yes, it is!
'Jason was expecting five rounds and was ready for it.
'He's pleased to have the belt, but it's not the way he wanted to win it – he was in it for the long game. It's a real shame.'
Elsewhere on the main card there was a fine win for Ipswich featherweight Corrin Eaton, who cut the cage off well and grappled successfully with the powerful Igor Camino-Mora, finishing the Brazilian with a guillotine choke in the first round.
That was despite a nasty head wound, which left the exciting Suffolk scrapper battling to see through a mask of blood.
Eaton, now 9-2, said afterwards: 'I'm super happy with another win.
'I was told by the medic afterwards that I was lucky I stopped the fight when I did, otherwise he would have stopped it due to my cut.
'He was very strong in the clinch and I'm a little disappointed with myself that I didn't disengage – if I hadn't finished it and the fight went to the later rounds I may have been in trouble!' Eaton is now hoping to fight at BCMMA 18 in Colchester on February 18 next year.
Earlier on the main card there were a pair of upset losses for two Norfolk fighters who tasted defeat for the first time.
Thetford lightweight Andre Goncalves (now 2-1-1) was stopped by Norway's Kim Thinghaugen (now 5-3) in the first, while Wisbech flyweight Jamie Powell (now 7-1) tapped to a rear naked choke in the third round of his fascinating battle with impressive Spaniard Daniel Barez (now 7-4).
'All our fights are always well-matched,' said Newman. 'The 'home' fighters aren't given an easy time and credit to both Andre and Jamie for taking tough fights.
'Andre just got caught with a wild kick and couldn't recover.
'They can both come again. At the end of the day, sometimes you learn from a loss, push on and get better.'
There was praise too from Newman for a youth K1 match-up between Norfolk's Jake Catterall and Suffolk's Cameron Cunningham.
The two traded wicked blows, with Catterall absorbing some heavy leather in the second before forcing Cunningham to take a standing eight count in the third and duly claiming a points win.
'That was great,' said Newman. 'Jake always brings it and Cameron, well he's only 15 – he's going to be a real handful at 18!'
- Contenders returns on February 25 with Contenders Norwich 18, featuring a light heavyweight title bout between Stuart Austin and Przemyslaw Mysiala. Visit www.contendersea.com for details.
- Contenders Norwich 17 will be shown on Mustard TV on Thursday, starting at 9.30pm.
Results
Jason Radcliffe beat Wilfried Edmund by TKO at end of third round.
Corrin Eaton beat Igor Camino-Mora by guillotine choke, first round.
David Small beat Tomas Siaucila by TKO (leg kicks), first round.
Daniel Barez beat Jamie Powell by RNC, third round.
Kim Thinghaugen beat Andre Goncalves by TKO (punches/kicks), first round.
Mark Percival beat Svajunas Siaucili by TKO (punches), first round.
Kay Erikssen beat Ivan Golod by inverted triangle, third round.
Jamie Richardson beat Joseph Karim by TKO (punches), first round.
Rick Browne beat Martin Shaddick on points.
Giwrgos Koulalis beat Luke Warrall on points.
Frederick Hoifodt beat Dylan Evans on points.
Jake Catterall beat Cameron Cunningham on points.
Astijus Saulinskis beat Powel Dabowski by TKO (punches), first round.
Damantas Matulevicius drew with Paulo Augusto.
Idris Phillips-Fry beat Sean Robinson on points.
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