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Ex-Bellator champ Emanuel Newton blames pre-fight sex for last loss

Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA TODAY

Emanuel Newton learned the hard way that you can't mix business with pleasure.

Carrying a three-fight losing streak into his match with Linton Vassell at Bellator 149 on Feb. 19, the former light heavyweight champion claims he was at a disadvantage before his last loss to Phil Davis due to some poorly timed extracurricular activities.

"I had sex like three or four hours before the fight, which was stupid," Newton told Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie.com. "Once again, I was getting caught up in that (mentality that) certain things couldn't touch me when I have to understand that I am human and I do have to train hard and I can't be going out and making stupid mistakes. Then the first takedown of the fight Phil got on me, I popped my rib. It just wasn't meant for me to win that fight because I learned so much."

Newton met Davis in the opening round of a four-man light heavyweight tournament. He was taken down twice by "Mr. Wonderful" and submitted in the first round.

The pre-fight sex combined with a rib injury apparently took away from Newton's creative striking game and his ability to withstand Davis' overwhelming grappling.

"(Having sex) definitely took away my hips," Newton said. "My trainer Antonio (McKee), even the day before when we were doing open workouts I was kicking him off his feet with spinning back kicks. The first takedown Phil got on me was when I threw a spinning back kick and he powered through it and he got that body lock and that's when I popped my rib.

"But right when we were warming up my trainer looked at me and said, 'What happened to that power?' Lesson learned. It happened for a bigger reason and I did learn a lesson and get a deeper understanding of myself."

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