In addition to the triumphant performance of Peter Yan, the UFC 251 tournament was remembered by two status title fights, as well as the performances of three Russian athletes. Muslim Salikhov, Roman Bogatov and Maxim Grishin with different success completed their fights as part of the preliminary card, and the main events were the main fight between Alexander Volkanovsky and Max Holloway, as well as the duel Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.

The first of the Russians to enter the cell "Fight Island" Maxim Grishin entered. Initially, the 36-year-old athlete was not supposed to speak at UFC 251, but the Moldavian heavyweight Alexander Romanov suddenly quit the tournament. Speaking the whole career category below, the Russian agreed to take the fight on a short notice, not afraid of not the simplest opponent. In 2014, Marchin Tybura won the title in the M-1 Global, which became for him a ticket to the American championship.

According to the results of the weigh-in, Grishin was 13 kilograms lighter than Tybura, which predetermined the plan of both for the battle. The Russian tried to work the second number and strike from a long distance, while the Pole tried to get close, lock his counterparts in the clinch and then transfer him to the floor. He repeatedly succeeded, but Marchin could not achieve serious success. However, he continued to steadily gain points.

Grishin clearly appeared not in the best shape and could not keep Tybura at a distance, allowing him to easily get closer. The Pole took advantage of this and more than once was close to getting ahead of schedule early, but the Russian showed his fighting character. However, this was not enough to create a sensation. The judges awarded the victory to Marchin.

In the next battle, Roman Bogatov tried his hand at the UFC. Former M-1 Global Lightweight Champion got a very nasty opponent in the person of Leonardo Santos. The Brazilian, even at the age of 40, was more than dangerous, which was confirmed by his unbeaten run of 11 years. The last time he was defeated by the Japanese Kazunori Yokota in May 2009, after which he won 11 battles, and ended up another draw.

Bogatov was clearly worried, which was perfectly noticeable in his movements. The first round turned out to be relatively equal, albeit with a slight advantage of Santos, and the second almost became the last. Roman missed two hits with a knee to the head, and after a direct hit in a standing knockdown. Leonardo rushed to finish and was very close to early triumph, but the Russian not only survived, but also took the ending.

Roman Bogatov's corner gave him a slap for encouragement when he got back to his stool 😳 # UFC251pic.twitter.com / 8Fc67CkYf5

- UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) July 12, 2020

During the break, the corners gave the Russians a psychological pump, but they overdid it a bit. He began a very active five-minute, but all spoiled three unsuccessful knee kicks. Two of them fell in the groin, and the third - in the temple of the Brazilian, who at that moment dropped to one knee. Such a position is equated to lying, and according to the rules, an athlete who is in it cannot be kicked on the head. The referee Mark Goddard suffered for a long time, but after the third violation he fined Bogatov at once two points. Thus, the debutant lost all chances to win by the decision of the judges. At the end of three rounds, the referee could not have doubts about the triumph. All three preferred Santos with a score of 29:26.

As part of the preliminary card, the last of the Russians was Muslim Salikhov. In the event of a successful outcome, he extended his successful series to four fights and could claim a place in the top 15 welterweight ratings. But for this he needed to deal with the offender Alexei Kunchenko. In March, Eliseu Zaleski Dos Santos confidently dealt with the ex-champion M-1 Global and provoked his departure from the UFC.

In the opening, the rivals acted mostly cautiously, but still managed to show skill in percussion technique. Wushu Sanda and capoeira specialists delighted the audience with technical and bright kicks, but only a small part of them reached the goal. However, in the end of the first segment, Muslim a little gape, missed a series of powerful hits from Eliseu and ended up on the floor. The Brazilian rushed to finish, but he did not have enough time.

In the second round, certain trends began to be traced more distinctly. Salikhov kicked more accurately and sharply, but in boxing Zaleski looked more confident. During the next exchange, he again held a powerful series and nearly knocked the Russians to canvas. But this time, the situation was less critical for Muslim, who quickly regained his balance in a duel. In the remaining time, the Russian occupied the center of the octagon and constantly pressed, continuing to throw powerful hi-kicks and kicks from the U-turn.

In the third round, the picture has not changed. Athletes acted cautiously, but did not allow each other to relax. True, they did not actively go forward. As a result, the athletes could not identify the name of the winner themselves and left the verdict to the judges. One of them voted for Zaleski, while the other two voted for Salikhov.

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The tournament was also remembered for its bright early victories. Jiri Prochazka in the first battle in the UFC outlined claims to a place in the top 10 light heavyweight division by knocking out Volcan Ozdemir. And Amanda Ribas prevailed over the starry Page Vanzant, catching her on the elbow lever. For the 11th time in his career, Makwan Amirkhani won by surrender, “strangling” Danny Henry with the help of “anaconda”, and Davy Grant knocked out Martin Day.

Another important event of the event was a rematch between ex-champs in minimum weight. As expected, the second meeting between Namayunas and Andrade turned out to be more than fierce and uncompromising. During the first two segments, Rose interrupted the opponent and practically did not leave her hopes for success. She completely controlled the course of the battle and led by the number of punches punched with a score of 62:44, but in the third round she made her fans worry. The American missed a number of powerful attacks, after which she had a dissection on her face. But instead of stepping back and calmly bringing the matter to victory, she chose to go on a dangerous exchange. The Brazilian woman had enough chances to create a sensation again, but this time luck was not on her side.

The most controversial was the result of the duel Volkanovsky with Holloway. Max learned from the defeat and looked much better than in December. He controlled the distance well and was quite productive. His blows carried a great danger, and in the endings of the first and second segments, Alexander was almost knocked down.

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The champion managed to reverse the course of the confrontation and restore parity a little only in the fourth and fifth rounds. He began to draw closer to his opponent more often and even went to his feet, but no more. Holloway acted varied and bright, alternating excellent boxing with unexpected kicks.

However, the judges once again surprised with their verdict. So, only one of them gave Holloway a victory with a minimum difference in the long run, while the other two sided with Volkanovsky. The Australian held the first defense, and the Hawaiian lost for the sixth time in his career. In addition to Alexander, he twice lost to Dustin Porje, and once to Conor McGregor and Dennis Bermudez.

In the main match of the evening, a tense struggle did not work. Of course, Masvidal had little chance on paper to impose a struggle on Usman. The reason for this was the exhausting style of fighting the Nigerian, multiplied by his incredible power and endurance. And also the fact that the American Cuban accepted the battle on a short notice, which was why he was forced to drive nine kilograms in six days. Already in the first round it was clear that Jorge was unlikely to have enough strength for all 25 minutes, which ultimately happened.

Despite the fact that already at the 17th second Usman made a pass to his feet, Masvidal successfully completed the first round. He acted sharply and sharply, bombarding the enemy with high-kicks and overhands. But over time, the Nigerian heeded the advice of the new mentor Trevor Wittman and began to work in his favorite style. Jorge spent most of the next 20 minutes either with his back to the net or on the floor. In such conditions, he did not have the opportunity to compete worthy.

Only one judge saw Masvydal's superiority in one of the rounds, while the rest gave all five to Usman. Kamaru successfully held a second defense and extended the unbeaten run to 16 battles, 12 of which he spent in the UFC. Jorge also suffered a 14th defeat in his career, but still went down in history. Previously, no one got the right to fight for the champion title, having 48 bouts in the track record.