On the night of July 19, the UFC held another tournament on Fight Island. After a not-so-representative previous show, the matchmakers gathered an impressive roster, and in the main match of the evening with the participation of Joseph Benavidez and Davieson Figueredo, the vacant flyweight title was played. As for domestic fans, they could follow the performances of three Russians, though only one of them fought in the main card.
The first of the representatives of the Russian Federation in the cell appeared Arman Tsarukyan. After losing to Islam Makhachev at the tournament in St. Petersburg in April 2019, he defeated the strong Canadian Olivier Obin-Mercier and was going to repeat the success of Makhachev in a duel with Davi Ramos. Islam fought with him on a show in Abu Dhabi in September and then prevailed by unanimous decision. This time the battle also lasted the whole distance, but it turned out to be more intense.
Ramos's right trump card was rightly considered his skills in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 2015, he won gold at the world grappling championship under the auspices of ADCC, and in 2006 won silver at the world championship in BJ. It was logical to expect that Davie decides to bet on the fight, but he unexpectedly decided to fight in the stance. This was only to the advantage of Tsarukyan, who has good boxing skills.
Arman looked sharper than the opponent and confidently felt both in tough exchanges and in working at a distance. Davi clearly did not keep up with the opponent, but still refused to force the transfer to the ground. Perhaps the actions of the Brazilian were due to the fact that the current battle was the last for him under the current contract. Thus, Ramos tried to arrange a spectacular battle and earn a new offer from the UFC.
This tactic has not proved itself. Tsarukyan dominated the stance, and in the first and second rounds he led a takedown. True, he was able to fix control over the enemy only once, so the second transfer was not noted in the statistics. But it reflected the more than twofold advantage of Arman in strikes (118 - 49), which fully demonstrated the balance of power in the duel. Another evidence of the superiority of the Russian was the broken nose of the Brazilian. The referee even asked the doctor to check on Ramos, but he allowed him to continue.
In the end, the Brazilian tried his best to throw a Russian guillotine, but he easily left the strangulation. It is worth recognizing that at times Ramos looked quite active, but managed to secure success in only one out of three rounds. Tsarukyan won by unanimous decision.
Unlike his compatriot, Hadis Ibragimov again could not open an account for his triumphs in the largest MMA promotion in the world. Ex-champion M-1 Global came to the UFC as an undefeated fighter with a record of 8 - 0, but after that he lost three times in a row. The last offender of the Russian was Roman Dolidze. The bright Georgian athlete made his successful debut in the Absolute Fighting Championship and kept the perfect record.
The fight lasted only 4 minutes 15 seconds, most of which the athletes did not act very actively. At the same time, Ibragimov felt extremely uncomfortable in the octagon and could not properly take advantage of even Dolidze's misfire. The Georgian unsuccessfully performed an ax kick (an amplitude kick, the movement at which resembles a swing with an ax) and fell on canvas, but the Russian did not dare to go to the ground, but limited himself to a similarity of ground and pound.
Subsequently, it became clear that the decision to abandon the struggle was the main mistake of Hadith. A minute later, he reacted to the deceitful show of Roman and made a head bow, but ran into high-kick. And the blow came not with the shin, but with the knee. Ibragimov fell, followed by finishing. The third consecutive debacle, most likely, drew a line under his first arrival in the UFC.
Like Ibragimov, Askar Askarov also held his third fight in the championship. He drew the first in a draw, and in the second he defeated, which helped him to fly to the seventh line in the ranking of the easiest division. Given that in this category a series of two successful matches in a row is a rarity, a triumph in the battle with Alexander Pantozha could not only secure him a place in the top 3, but also give him the right to claim a belt.
The debut of the fight turned out to be extremely saturated. The Brazilian kicked off powerfully and tried to immediately put the Russian in the guillotine, but the experienced grappler got out of a difficult situation and was on top himself. The next two rounds went almost according to a single scenario: Askarov did his best to “tie up” Pantoga at the net and hold another takedown, but he defended more, but answered very dangerously. So, at the end of the first five-minute, he again made his way behind Askar's back and nearly performed a strangulation from behind.
After two segments on the cards of the judges there could well be equality on points, so the third round automatically became decisive. At a key moment, Askarov decided to abandon his favorite grappling and began to exchange blows with Pantoja, who was more sophisticated in this aspect. Perhaps in the debut this would be a mistake, but the tired Alexander was not so fast and began to miss a lot. Askar beat more accurately and accentuated, and even the unexpected fall, which could easily be mistaken for a knockdown, did not spoil the overall picture. But the Russian very quickly got to his feet, showing by all appearance that he had not received significant damage.
The battle lasted all three rounds, after which the judges rendered their verdict. Each of them gave preference to the Russian (29 - 28), which allowed him to win at the moment the most important victory in his career. Askarov prevailed over the fourth division number and strengthened his status as one of the trophy seekers.
The main program of the tournament turned out to be extremely eventful. It took Ariani Lipinski only 87 seconds to hold the kneebar and get the upper hand over Luana Carolina. The painful reception turned out to be so effective that she received a cash bonus for “Performance of the evening”. Jack Hermansson could well count on him. The Swedish middleweight created one of the main sensations, having dealt with the former contender for the provisional title Kelvin Gastelum. The outcome of the duel was also decided by a sudden leg crease. An athlete nicknamed the Joker caught a vis-a-vis heel hook, spending seven seconds less than a 26-year-old Brazilian to win.
Separately, it is worth noting the battle between Rafael Fiziev and Mark Diakesi. The representative of Kyrgyzstan pleased his fans with a bright performance and deservedly extended a successful series. During the fight, he dominated the opponent, and during the first segment he spent a series of powerful middle kicks (kicks on the body), which delighted many of his colleagues. The Englishman tried to resist and at times effectively attacked, but he looked less impressive. As a result, all the judges sided with Fiziev, and the promotion management awarded both athletes a bonus for “Fight of the evening”.
In the main battle, the flyweight title that Henry Sehudo left was played. The trophy was supposed to find its owner at the end of February, but then Figeredo, although he got the upper hand, did not meet the limit of the category. The belt remained vacant, and the matchmakers appointed a rematch in mid-July.
Despite the defeat in the first match, many fighters preferred Benavidez. According to them, then he owned the initiative and looked better until competitors clashed their heads. But this time everything turned out even worse. Already at the 45th second, Joe missed the most powerful right overhand performed by Daveson and ended up on the floor. Over the next two minutes, he suffered a beating in the stalls and was forced to twice get out of the asphyxiation.
Benavidez was still able to get to his feet and even participated in several exchanges, but the damage received at the start was too great. For the remaining time, he was knocked down twice more, and then once again let the opponent behind him. On the third attempt, Figeredo completed what was begun and successfully carried out a strangulation from behind. At the same time, Joe did not knock, once again demonstrating his fighting character.
Figueredo defeated Benavidez for the second time in a row and became the first Brazilian UFC flyweight champion. Previously, this trophy was won exclusively by representatives of the United States - Demetrius Johnson and Henry Sehudo. As for Joe, he lost the fifth fight for the title of his career. Nevertheless, the 35-year-old athlete assured that he was not going to end his career, but admitted that he was unlikely to be able to regain the status of the first applicant.