One of the largest Russian MMA promotions, Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), held its second tournament after the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic were lifted. As part of the event, ten battles took place, in the main of which Alexander Emelianenko and Magomed Ismailov met. The fight lasted three rounds and ended in a sensational victory for Ismailov.
Immediately after the official announcement, the fight between Emelianenko and Ismailov was named one of the most anticipated in Russian MMA in 2020. The star status of the fighters, coupled with an intriguing confrontation between representatives of different weight categories, immediately attracted the attention of the public and provided serious excitement around the duel. It is no secret that the ACA management made a huge stake on the show with the participation of Alexander and Magomed. The VTB Arena in Moscow was reserved for him, where the UFC held its next tournament in November. But all the plans were confused by the coronavirus. The event was postponed from April to July and took place not in the capital, but in Sochi. At the same time, due to restrictions on the stands, fans were not allowed.
However, this practically did not affect the level of excitement around the duel, which was facilitated by the athletes themselves. Even in self-isolation, they continued to actively fuel interest in the future battle, regularly arranging barbs on social networks. At the same time, Emelianenko managed not only to prepare for the battle with Ismailov, but also to look for new opponents. Back in the spring, there were rumors about his meeting with Vladimir Mineev, and in the summer - about the long-awaited revenge with Sergei Kharitonov.
One of the main intrigues of the fight was whether the natural middleweight Ismailov could compete with the heavyweight Emelianenko. In mixed martial arts, not all fighters are brave enough to try their hand at an adjacent division. And transitions to two categories higher are very rare. In 2016, Conor McGregor did a similar thing when he fought Diaz at welterweight, but that experience can hardly be called successful. True, later the Irishman looked much better. First he took revenge on Diaz, and four years later he knocked out Donald Cerrone.
As for the transition from middle to heavyweight, then you can remember Dan Henderson. During his career, the legendary fighter managed to try his hand at three of the most prestigious divisions and looked pretty impressive everywhere. Domestic MMA fans will probably remember his meeting with Fedor Emelianenko in 2011. The American barely crossed the lower bar of the category, but unexpectedly knocked out the Last Emperor.
The debut of the fight between Emelianenko and Ismailov turned out to be intense. Magomed moved a little closer to the cage, but after a few seconds he rushed forward and made a series of accurate hits. Emelianenko was not ready for such agility of the counterpart, as a result of which almost all the lateral former middleweights hit right on target. Stunned, Alexander backed away and immediately found himself on the ground. The freestyle wrestling specialist carried out a takedown and immediately found himself in a dominant position from above.
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Earlier, Emelianenko has repeatedly yielded due to problems in the ground. This was the reason for his defeat from Jeff Monson, as well as a draw in the battle with Tony Johnson Jr. The Russian regularly skipped passes to the legs, but found the strength to rise. And the bursts of activity in the stand helped him not to lose. However, this time there was no question of it. Ismailov dominated the ground, bombarding Emelianenko's body and head with his fists, elbows and knees.
Already at the end of the first round, many might think that the duel was over. Ismailov got to his feet and several more times felt the jaw of the vis-a-vis who was lying on his back. With a similar technique, he reminded Fedor Emelianenko and almost knocked out his opponent. Alexander had already stopped defending himself, but the gong saved him. True, he had a cut above the eye, which greatly complicated his position.
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It seemed that at the beginning of the second round, Emelianenko would go ahead and try to rehabilitate himself for the fiasco in the first, but this did not happen. Ismailov again hit the stance several times, after which he went to his feet. Alexander desperately "knitted" Magomed's hands, and at one point he tried to go to the kimura, but the opponent stopped all these attempts. Ismailov himself continued to mercilessly beat the PRIDE veteran on the ground and did not give him the opportunity to recover.
In between the rounds, Ismailov looked rather tired, which could inspire hope in Emelianenko's fans. But already in the first seconds, he again transferred the enemy to the ground and practically deprived him of the chance of success. Alexander could not oppose anything in the fight and turned out to be under a hail of blows. Subsequently, his face was covered with blood, which forced the judge to temporarily suspend the duel and invite a doctor into the cage. He assessed the condition of the veteran and found no reason to stop the fight.
However, less than a minute later, the referee himself saw the reason for stopping the fight. Emelianenko practically ceased to defend himself and missed one powerful hit after another. The judge interrupted the beating and awarded Ismailov a victory by technical knockout.
Thus, Magomed outplayed Alexander both in standing and on the ground and won the 16th career victory, extending the unbeaten run to 11 fights. The last time he lost to Xavier Fupa-Pokam was in 2014, he has won ten times since then, and drew another fight. Emelianenko lost for the eighth time, and each time it happened ahead of schedule. Five times by knockout, three times by submission.
After the official announcement of the results, Ismailov tried to approach Emelianenko and say something to him, but the judge did not allow this. Having received the floor, he shared his joy of success and expressed respect for his opponent.
“We men are always trying something new. Learn something new, try yourself in something new. And while doing this, everyone can fly over the cuckoo's nest. And it's okay if this happens. I've been following Alexander for a long time - since the days of PRIDE. This is a special fighter for me, therefore the victory is special. To everyone I have upset. To everyone who waited for my defeat. I deliberately upset you. That's what I wanted, ”Ismailov said.