Karate Combat finished up its third season Thursday crowning their first ever bantamweight champion in controversial fashion. Ilies Mardhi of France seemed to have a small edge over Ireland's Eoghan Chelmiah after five rounds of fighting but when the judges saw it as a draw triggering an extra round, Mardhi couldn't continue claiming a broken hand and the title went to Chelmiah.

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Though Chelmiah pressed the action through much of the bout, Mardhi seemed to land the cleaner blows getting the better of many exchanges with quick punching combinations. He used intelligent movement and a stiff sidekick to keep Chelmiah off him early on, though Chelmiah did have his moments scoring a couple of flash knockdowns when Mardhi found himself off balance from missed kicks. While Mardhi's strikes seemed sharper overall and he limited the damage Chelmiah did on the inside clinching whenever the action got close, he slowed a bit in the final round and it was enough for Chelmiah to even it up. It goes down as a TKO victory for the Irishman due to Mardhi's failing to come out in the extra round.