Victories of Salikhov and Yevloyev, quick knockout from Pavlovich and a sensation from Maya: what ended the UFC tournament in Singapore

The UFC Fight Night tournament in Singapore was not only remarkable for the confrontation between the two wrestling masters in the stalls - Ben Askren and Demian Maya. Also, four representatives of Russia spoke at it, most of which turned out to be stronger than opponents.

The only disappointment for domestic fans of mixed martial arts was the performance of Alexandra Albu. The Russian-Moldavian athlete returned to the octagon after the first defeat in her career, but could not win, losing to Singapore representative Lome Luckbonmi.

It is worth noting that the advantage of a local girl-fighter was practically beyond doubt. She struck 45 more hits (112: 77), and 99 of them were significant. Not only statistics spoke about its superiority, but also numerous hematomas on the face of Albu. As a result, the two judges gave Lukboni all three rounds, while the third noted Alexandra’s success in one of five minutes.

In addition to Albu, two more Russians played in the preliminary card of the tournament. The first of them entered the cell Sergei Pavlovich, who continues to rehabilitate for a fiasco in the debut battle in the UFC.

From the very beginning, the leadership of the promotion actually threw the domestic fighter “under the tank”, appointing him a duel with the legendary Alistair Overeem. Ex-champion Fight Nights Global lasted only 4 minutes 21 seconds before the judge considered him a technical knockout defeat.

After that, Pavlovich in 66 seconds got the better of Marcelo Holm, who was on the verge of being fired, and in Singapore he first dealt with a representative of the top 15 heavy weight. As in the case of the Brazilian, Sergei scored a victory in the first round, however, this time it took him a little more than two minutes.

It’s hard to call Maurice Green an elite heavyweight, but on the eve of the fight he was higher than Pavlovich in the ranking and had one of the longest unbeaten series in the division - three wins in the UFC. Only Francis Ngannu and Augusto Sakai had the same amount.

However, from the very beginning Sergey began to demonstrate the difference in class between athletes. He was much more accurate than the opponent, but until a certain point he acted very carefully. Already at the end of the first minute, his powerful right overhand sent Maurice to canvas, and a little later the Russian forced the enemy to capitulate. He brought down a hail of blows on the American, which forced him to escape on the ground. Green managed to survive the first wave of Pavlovich’s attacks, but again missed on the right and collapsed onto the floor. Referee Herb Dean intervened and stopped the bout.

Unlike a compatriot, Movsar Yevloyev could not win ahead of schedule. His battle with Enrique Barzola lasted all the planned three rounds and turned out equal and double-edged. The Russian began actively, but in the second segment he was noticeably tired and slowed down, giving a chance to vis-a-vis. The winner of the 2015 Ultimate Fighter tournament took advantage of it and managed to level the situation.

In the final round, Yevloyev looked more confident and tipped the scales in his favor. And this despite the fact that in the last five-minute period he did not spend a single takedown, of which four were accumulated at once for the whole battle. In this case, Barzola responded only by transferring to the ground, but he did it very effectively. At the end of the second round, he typed Movsar into an octagon, but this was not enough for success.

Yevloyev won the second consecutive victory in the UFC and extended the unbeaten run to 12 fights. In the near future, he can get an opponent from the top 15 featherweight.

Muslim Salikhov became the only representative of Russia in the main card of the Singapore tournament. The athlete gained popularity after the competition in Abu Dhabi, where he effectively knocked out the strong Nordin Taleb. This time, he was opposed by Laureano Staropoli, who, although he had only two victories in the UFC, but had already managed to get the better of the former first contender for the welterweight title, Thiago Alves.

The fight was not the brightest. For 15 minutes, the fighters demonstrated their rich technical arsenal, but a variety of spinning kicks (kick from the U-turn) and hi-kicks passed the target. At the same time, Salikhov looked much more preferable. He pressed, hit more and thrice transferred Staropoli to the ground. In addition, in the middle of the second round, he was close to knocking out an opponent. First, he made a combination of the right straight and kick on the body, which reached the goal, and then rushed to finish. For several seconds, Laureano was in a dull defense, but survived.

Most judges appreciated this episode performed by a Russian. Two gave him this segment with a difference of two points, which practically put an end to the chances of the Argentinean. As a result, Salikhov prevailed with a score of 30:26, while another referee saw a much more equal confrontation in the octagon. He also sided with Muslim, but noted only a minimal advantage.

The main fight of the 499th tournament in the history of the Absolute Fighting Championship brought a sensation to the local public. Bookmakers called Askren a favorite, but Maya proved that even at the age of 41 he remains an extremely dangerous opponent. In the third round, the Brazilian climbed up on his back and put on his signature “backpack”, after which he held a strangulation. The American refused to give up and after a few seconds passed out.

Maya extended the unbeaten run to three fights in a row and won 21 victories under the auspices of the UFC. According to this indicator, he takes second place in the history of promotion and is second only to Donald Cerrone. The Cowboy has one more successful fight.

As for Askren, he lost the second time in a row. In July, he already managed to write his name in history, having suffered the fastest knockout defeat in UFC history. So, it took Jorge Masvidal only five seconds and one knee kick in a jump to send his opponent to canvas.

It is possible that such results will make the promotion management think about terminating the contract with a fighter. Askren came from ONE FC in the status of one of the strongest athletes outside the UFC, but so far has only one victory in his track record with two failures. And this despite the fact that one of the legendary representatives of the flyweight Demetrius Johnson was given in compensation to the Thai organization.