The UFC 242 tournament in Abu Dhabi was supposed to be historic for many reasons. Previously, the largest MMA promotion in the world only twice came to the United Arab Emirates and so far has not managed to conquer the eastern market. In this regard, the management of the organization associated particular hopes with this show and had the right to count on serious excitement around it. First of all, due to the performance of the reigning lightweight champion and international star Khabib Nurmagomedov.

However, even without it, Russian fans had someone to pay attention to. So, among the participants of the show six more domestic athletes were listed. And despite the fact that it was Habib who attracted the main audience, the fights of his compatriots also aroused great interest.

Perhaps it was the number of domestic fighters that attracted so many Russian fans. At the entrance to the arena, mostly Russian speech was heard, and signs in the arena were made in two languages ​​- English and Russian, native to UFC. The tournament in the UAE was initially positioned in fact as a home show for Nurmagomedov and the company.

The first to enter the octagon was Omari Akhmedov, who spent his fourth middleweight bout in the UFC. In the previous three, he did not suffer a single defeat and counted on success in the battle with Zach Cummings. The American never entered the elite of the division, but was considered a strong and uncomfortable opponent. He proved this already in the starting five-minute hit by a powerful left hook. True, the Russian quickly rehabilitated by responding with an amplitude takedown.

To the disappointment of the fans, the promising first round remained the most spectacular. The two remaining went in a tense struggle for the implicit advantage of the Russians. Akhmedov twice transferred his opponent to the ground, which was enough to win.

The next battle promised to be much more interesting and fully lived up to expectations. Muslim Salikhov and Nordin Taleb spent less than one round in the octagon, but managed to demonstrate their skills to the audience. Muslim particularly succeeded, first performing a graceful punch from a turn on the body, and then completely sending his counterpart to a deep knockout. The Russian found Nordin's jaw with his right side and extended his winning streak in the UFC to two fights.

The initiative of Salikhov was supported by foreign fighters. So, Belyal Muhammad effectively strangled Takashi Sato, and Ottman Azaytar marked his UFC debut with a powerful knockout. A native of Germany confirmed his nickname Bulldozer, easily sorting out Teemu Pakkalenom. But Liana Jojua could not shine in her first fight under the auspices of the largest promotion. The Georgian girl acted extremely unsuccessfully and deservedly lost to Sarah Moras. It is noteworthy that this triumph helped the Canadian make a positive balance of victories and defeats for his career - 6: 5.

View this Instagram post

Publication from UFC Russia (@ufcrussia) Sep 7, 2019 at 10:34 am PDT

The last of the Russians who did not get into the main card in the octagon entered Zubayra Tukhugov. He was supposed to test the debutant Leron Murphy and at first did not portend a tense battle. Already in the first round he sent his counterpart to the knockdown, but could not finish the job. The Englishman recovered, and in the second segment created many problems for his opponent. He looked good in the rack and was not inferior in the stalls, a couple of times almost catching an opponent on the "guillotine" (asphyxiation).

In the third round, Murphy looked more active and moved forward more, and Tukhugov looked rather tired. As a result, the fight lasted all three rounds, but the judges could not determine the winner.

The preliminary battles ended with not the most interesting battle between Joanna Calderwood and Andrei Lee, after which Mayrbek Taysumov and Diego Ferreira entered the octagon. For the Russian, this fight was super-principle, because in his last fight Ferreira defeated his friend Rustam Khabilov.

The first round was held with a slight advantage of the Russian, who managed to score a couple of exact combinations, but already in the second his opponent found his distance and began to interrupt Taysumov. At the same time, Ferreira was not afraid to resort to dirty tricks. So, in a clinch, he hit with his head, for which he immediately received a warning from referee Herb Dean. Fans once again showed which side they were on, meeting the actions of the Brazilian with a disapproving hum.

Mayrbek fought desperately for himself and his friend, but Diego was much stronger that evening. He acted in the first number, constantly pressed and surpassed his opponent three times in the number of strokes. By the middle of the third round, Taisumov had a heavy nose bleeding, which only reinforced the impression that Ferreira was superior. The Russian survived, but could not count on the judges. Those unanimously preferred the Brazilian.

View this Instagram post

Publication from UFC Russia (@ufcrussia) Sep 7, 2019 at 8:31 am PDT

Following Taysumov, another domestic athlete was defeated. Shamil Abdurakhimov approached in a status of underdog to a fight with Curtis Blades and could not create a sensation. The American acted in his usual manner, focusing on working on the ground, and the Russian could not oppose him. He easily passed to his feet and already at the end of the first round ended up in a full mount (sitting on the opponent’s stomach) and was close to winning ahead of schedule.

Abdurahimov could only hold out until the middle of the second round. He again allowed his opponent to carry out a takedown, after which he could not provide serious resistance to that. Shamil suffered serious bleeding, and after another series of powerful blows by Blades, the referee stopped the fight.

Islam Makhachev was to turn the tide of the tournament which was not the most successful for the Russians. Habib's teammate was considered a favorite in the battle with Davy Ramos and could break into the top 10 lightweight rating. The Brazilian also solved serious problems and tried to extend his unbeaten streak to five fights.

The first five-minute passed in reconnaissance, both preferring not to force the battle, but to work at a distance. In this case, Makhachev was a little sharper. Several times he cheated his opponent great, which caused a stormy reaction from the audience. Ramos, on the other hand, looked a little bewildered and could not pick up the keys to his counterpart.

The second third turned out to be brighter. Makhachev brought hi-kick to the goal, which provoked Ramos to action. He rushed to his feet, but did not succeed, while losing a lot of strength. Islam continued to fight very cleverly and restrainedly, but at the same time, over and over again found gaps in Davy’s defense. Evidence of this was the dissection under the right eye of the Brazilian. In the end, he rushed forward in despair, but only got a couple of weighty hooks.

The beginning of the third round was almost fatal for Ramos. Again, he thoughtlessly rushed forward, but ran into the oncoming blow and collapsed on canvas. Makhachev tried to finish, but the opponent managed to get away from the blows. This episode provoked a stormy reaction of domestic fans who began to chant “Russia! Russia!". Islam spent the remaining minutes on his opponent, but although he failed to create serious problems for that, he confidently defended the winning result. The judges gave all the rounds to the Russian and recorded his sixth consecutive triumph in the UFC.