Aaron Chalmers: Watch the moment former Geordie Shore thought he knocked out opponent
AARON CHALMERS suffered his first mixed martial arts loss late last night.
The former Geordie Shore star made his second Bellator MMA appearance last night in his hometown of Newcastle.
The man tasked with the job of handing the 31-year-old his first loss was American Corey Browning, who picked up a second-round stoppage victory over Kevin Ferguson Jr in his previous outing.
And Browning did just that, submitting Chalmers with a heel hook seconds into the third round.
Browning entered the contest with nearly double the amount of fights Chalmers had to his name, having five amateur fights before turning pro in January 2015.
The Tennessee native’s experience showed in the first round when he pressured Chalmers on the cage with his wrestling.
He was, however, nearly finished moments after Chalmers shook him off when he was sent hurtling to the canvas by a big left hook.
But a premature celebration from Chalmers let him off the hook and saw him make it to the second round.
Browning took control of the contest in the second and came close to finishing the fight with strikes from the full mount position, though Chalmers battled admirably to avoid being stopped.
.@AaronCGShore so close with the walk-off KO!#BellatorNewcastle pic.twitter.com/K110IDn0qA
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) February 9, 2019
I’ll come back stronger
But he found himself tapping to a heel hook moments after the start of the third as Browning latched on to his left leg after an unsuccessful takedown and sunk in a nasty heel hook.
Chalmers was bitterly disappointed to have thrown away victory with a momentary lapse in concentration, which he put down to over-excitement.
"To be honest, mate. I thought I’d knocked him out,” he said. “Just pure novice. I’ve been fighting for 18 months, haven’t had any amateurs [fights]. Fair play to Corey.
“Do you know what it is? I just got excited. In my hometown, clipped him. And I just wanted the, f***ing, walk-off finish. And I turned around and he was getting back up, which was unexpected.
“But yeah, I had a bit of a, I think it was a three-round war, I don’t really remember much of it. But yeah, a three-round war.”
The 31-year-old has vowed not to let his first setback deter him from fighting, adding: "I’ll be back. I’ll come back stronger.
“A lot of people will be loving this, that I’ve been beat. But, I think it’s how you come back from the loss that will judge what a fighter I am.
“I’m going to have a week off, enjoy my time with my family, and then we’ll go back to work.”
Chalmers isn’t at all embarrassed by the loss, which he believes has lifted a weight off his shoulders.
“I feel like it might be a bit of pressure is off none,” he said. “The zero’s is gone. So, I am beatable, do you know what I mean? Which is quite easily shown. I’ve been beaten.
“I’ve trained, probably properly, if you think of my time, six months. I’ve just been beaten by a kid who is a 4-1 amateur and a 4-2 pro who has trained a long few years. Maybe four, maybe five years.
“I’m not embarrassed, I’m not embarrassed at all. I got in there, had a war in front of my home town. Still handsome. So f**k it.”