Habib Nurmohammadov, the lightweight mixed martial arts champion, has confirmed his status as the best player in his category ever by beating American lightweight interim champion Dustin Poirier in the third round, by subduing a spectacular fight hosted by Abu Dhabi at the UFC-242 Championship on Saturday night.
In front of 14,000 fans at The Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, as part of the Abu Dhabi Challenge Week, the Russian boxer struggled to strengthen his sporting record of victories, despite strong resistance from Poirier, taking his record to 28 victories unbeaten. “All my achievements and accomplishments are thanks to my parents, brothers, relatives and friends whom I grew up with. Mixed martial arts is a sport based on mutual respect with opponents. "I was under great pressure recently, and I just need some rest."
"These are difficult moments in my career. I was waiting for this moment to consolidate my career and achieve a unique achievement. I was very prepared to fight and I was not at all nervous. "I must use this experience to strengthen my future career."
After the Habib-Poirier battle dominated most of the titles of UFC 242, the final of the Abu Dhabi Challenge Week proved to be outstanding, with the 13 matches of the tournament involved major clashes and exceeding expectations among athletes from 13 countries.
Just before the main event, Edson Barbosa and Paul Felder, the two lightweight champions, recalled the events of their "strongest encounter" in Chicago in 2015 - won by the Brazilian - and fought a fierce showdown and managed to defeat Barbosa in the third round and the majority of referees. Faced with another fierce, the Russian Islam Makhashif managed to overcome his Brazilian opponent Davy Ramos in the third round and the unanimous referees. Abu Dhabi is also a wonderful city and has a good fan base with Habib. "I would like to congratulate my opponent Ramos for doing very well, and I would also like to thank everyone who supported me during today's fight."
In the only heavyweight category, fourth-seeded American Curtis Blades beat Russian ninth seed Shamil Abdulrahimov in the second round with a knockout. "It went as planned and I look forward to my next match with optimism," Blades said. I expected to excel in this fight where I was on standby and it helped me to draw the right scenario for the fight. "Let's see what lies ahead and I'm ready for the challenge." On a busy evening of light-hearted clashes between lightweight champions Diego Ferreira overcame Russian Merbik Tesomov in the third round by unanimous decision. Following this victory, Ferreira became one of the top 15 lightweight fighters.
Two women confrontations
The Arena witnessed events that rewrote history as Abu Dhabi hosted the first two female encounters in mixed martial arts. In the flyweight category, Scottish Joan Calderwood beat American Andrea Lee in the third round by a majority of referees.
After the match, Calderwood revealed her enthusiasm for her women's flyweight opponent, Valentina Shevchenko, who was among the eight guest athletes in the emirate during the Abu Dhabi Challenge Week. Calderwood said victory in such games is not easily achieved.