INGLEWOOD, Calif. – [autotag]Emilee King[/autotag] 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, [autotag]Taylor Turner[/autotag], 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.
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“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.”
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