Kunitskaya's victory, Oleinik's defeat by knockout and the end of Akhmedov's successful streak: what makes UFC Vegas 6 memorable

The second Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament in August was UFC Vegas 6 at UFC Apex. Unlike the previous show, in which there was no place for a single Russian, this was remembered by the performance of three Russian fighters at once. Yana Kunitskaya tried to rehabilitate herself for the defeat from Aspen Ladd, Omari Akhmedov - to extend the unbeaten run in the middleweight division, and Alexey Oleinik - to take revenge for compatriot Alexander Volkov. In October 2018, he was defeated by an American, falling to the floor 11 seconds before the final bell.

The first of the Russian fighters to enter the octagon was Kunitskaya. Initially, the athlete was supposed to fight with the seventh bantamweight ranking Kathleen Viera, but she refused to participate in the tournament for unknown reasons. She was replaced by the champion of the Invicta promotion Yulia Stolyarenko. At the time of the fight, the Lithuanian athlete had nine victories in her track record with three defeats and one draw. At the same time, she had previously tried to get into the UFC, but was unable to successfully perform on the TV show The Ultimate Fighter.

It is noteworthy that at one time Kunitskaya got into the UFC precisely as the Invicta champion. In 2018, Chris Cyborg could not find a rival to fight for the vacant featherweight title, and the choice fell on the Russian woman. True, the latter failed to achieve success. The battle lasted a little less than three and a half minutes and ended in technical knockout.

Already in the first minutes, Kunitskaya's plan became perfectly clear. She tried to act in her usual manner with an emphasis on working in the clinch. The more physically strong Russian woman easily pressed the Lithuanian to the net, and there she actively used both knees and elbows. Yes, such hits could hardly lead to an early completion, but they allowed Yana to confidently control the course of the duel. By the end of the five-minute period, blood appeared on Stolyarenko's face, and subsequently her condition only worsened.

The second round took place in a similar vein. The only exception was its beginning, during which Stolyarenko tried to execute a roundhouse kick, but missed and allowed Kunitskaya to make a spectacular throw, as well as the ending. Regularly trying to provoke a transfer to the ground, the Lithuanian nevertheless achieved her goal and almost created a sensation, but the Russian woman was able to prevent an attempt to hold the elbow lever.

In the third, Stolyarenko continued her desperate attempts to be on her back and throw a painful or suffocating hold from this position, but they remained in vain. Kunitskaya not only confidently defended herself, but also regularly attacked herself. After 15 minutes, she had 209 accurate hits, while her rival had only 30. True, the statistics of accented hits were much more modest - 43: 6. At one point, referee Mark Smith got tired of watching the wrestling on the ground and clinching, as a result of which he began to raise the girls in the rack, but this did not lead to bright episodes. Yana confidently brought the matter to an end and won her third victory in the UFC.

The next of the Russians to enter the cage was Akhmedov, who faced a much more serious test. His opponent was supposed to be former UFC middleweight champion Weidman. After a crushing defeat to Luke Rockhold, he won only one fight out of five and hoped to rectify the situation in the battle with the Russian. On the eve of this battle, it was Omari who occupied a higher place in the ranking, but even this did not allow him to be considered the favorite.

The confrontation was especially interesting because Akhmedov and Weidman are experts in wrestling and became famous precisely because of their skill in the ground. But in the first round, only the American managed to demonstrate his skills. Chris twice transferred Omari to the flooring, and there he more than confidently controlled using Khabib Nurmagomedov's signature leg grip. It also looked a little brighter in the stance, primarily due to its speed. The Russian too often "charged" for a powerful overhand and gave the enemy the opportunity to use it.

The second five-minute was left for Akhmedov. He clearly drew conclusions and himself decided to demonstrate his ability to translate a vis-a-vis on canvas. He hit four takedowns, landed ten more punches, and made Weidman look completely confused. Chris again lost his sense of distance and began to fail regularly, reminding himself of the model of the lost battles with Yoel Romero and Dominic Reyes.

But Akhmedov was not enough for the third round. He looked tired and already at the 20th second allowed Weidman to make a two-legged pass. The American did not manage to immediately fix the control on the ground, but some time later he made his way behind the opponent's back, and then completely went to full mount (dominant position from above). The remaining three minutes, the Russian was forced to defend himself against strangulation with the help of the "triangle", as well as Chris's attempts to execute the finishing move. The judges gave preference to the ex-champion and helped him break the streak of two defeats. At the same time, two referees saw his overwhelming superiority in the final segment - 10: 8.

As for Akhmedov, he suffered his first defeat in the UFC middle division and now risks, if not leaving the top 15, then at least losing several positions. Before the fight with Weidman, he was in 11th place.

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Immediately after that, the participants in the main battle of the evening appeared in the cage. If successful, Oleinik could not only break into the top 5 of the heavyweight ranking, but also win his 60th anniversary victory in his career. At the same time, the fourth number of the division in the person of Lewis was able to finally strengthen its status as one of the main contenders for the belt and stand on a par with Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blades.

Realizing that Oleinik was never famous for his striking technique, Lewis tried to immediately use his advantage in this aspect. He immediately rushed to the attack and first performed a powerful left high-kick, and then entered into an adventurous exchange of punches. The Russian got out of it with honor, but allowed the American to take a takedown and be on top. True, he failed to finish off Alexei. And already in the second half of the round "Boa constrictor" demonstrated why it is considered one of the strongest grappling specialists in the category. He transferred the vis-a-vis to the flooring and almost carried out a choke.

The ending of the first five minutes turned out to be encouraging, but already in the seventh second the second Oleinik made a gross mistake. He got too close to his opponent and tried to fold the combination, but was too slow and predictable. A ligament from the left knee in the jump and the right cross performed by Derrick sent Alexei to the floor, after which the finishing move followed. Herb Din had no choice but to stop the fight. The Russian suffered the 14th defeat in his career, and the American became the sole champion of the UFC heavy division in terms of the number of knockouts (11).

In addition to the performance of the Russians, the tournament was remembered for bright knockouts and submissions. As part of the main card, Beneil Dariush scored a spectacular roundhouse backfist in a duel with Scott Holtzman. In this case, during the first minute, he twice got in the eyes. Nonetheless, other athletes were awarded cash bonuses for “Performance of the Evening”. One of them was Darren Stewart, who strangled Maki Pitolo in the first round. He very imprudently threw himself at his feet and was caught in the "guillotine". Also, Gavin Tucker flashed his jiu-jitsu skills, interrupting Justin Janes' successful streak of five fights in a row.

Kevin Holland and Andrew Sanchez demonstrated their skills in striking technique, and both knockouts turned out to be similar. Each of the athletes a little lull the vigilance of the counterpart, and then struck the exact right straight. But if the first of them took three rounds, then the second was enough 4 minutes 15 seconds.