Ismailov's fight with Shtyrkov, Evloyev's fourth fight in the UFC and Ferguson's return: the main events of December in MMA

Ufc

vegas 16

Date and venue:

December 5, Las Vegas (USA)

Significant fights:

Jack Hermansson - Marvin Vettori,

- Nate Landwehr

The first major tournament of the month will take place in Las Vegas.

In the main fight of the evening, representatives of the middle weight will converge, while if Hermansson has already managed to gain a foothold in the top of the category, then Vettori is not yet even among the ten strongest fighters of the division.

Of course, the victory over the fourth number in the rating will help the Italian not only to fulfill this task, but also to declare himself as one of the contenders for the belt.

Hermansson was originally supposed to fight Darren Till, but a knee injury prevented the former welterweight title contender from taking part in the show.

Kevin Holland agreed to replace him, who had the last fight at the end of October (it turned out to be short and ended in the first round with a TKO).

However, on November 28, the American tested positive for the coronavirus and had to be replaced by an Italian.

Marvin also ended his last fight in the opening round, forcing Carl Robertson to surrender, thanks to which he brought his winning streak to three fights.

Movsar Evloyev will open the main card of the tournament.

The beginning of 2020 turned out to be not the best for him - at the end of February, the fighter had an accident, because of which he was forced to withdraw from UFC 248. He returned to the cage only in July, when a strong, but not the most stellar rival, Mike Grundy, was defeated. ...

After that, one could expect that the matchmakers would provide the undefeated Russian with a more serious opponent, but they ordered otherwise.

As a result, the fans will face a confrontation between the two ex-champions of M-1 Global.

True, if Yevloyev took the bantamweight title, then Landver took the featherweight title.

At UFC Vegas 16, athletes will converge precisely in the 65.8 kg category, which may give the oversized American a slight advantage.

However, even this should not prevent the Russian from confirming the difference in class and winning the 14th fight in a row.

Bookmakers preferring Movsar think the same way.

Bellator 254

Date and venue:

December 10, Ancasville (USA)

Significant battles: Magomed Magomedov

- Matteus Mattos

The first Bellator tournament in December also promises to be memorable.

First of all, it is interesting for the performances of two Russians.

So, Shamil Nikaev will try to win the tenth fight in a row in his career, and Magomed Magomedov will try to break the resistance of Matthäus Mattos.

They could have been accompanied by Marina Mokhnatkina, who was assigned a fight with Jessica Borga, but she would not be destined to fight for her first victory under the auspices of the American promotion in Ancasville due to a fracture of her left thumb.

Magomedov is one of the most talented bantamweight representatives from Russia and the only fighter on the planet who managed to defeat Pyotr Yan.

Yes, the decision of the judges to give him a split decision in March 2016 still raises questions from many MMA fans, but the fact remains.

In addition to him, no one managed to impose such fierce competition on the future UFC champion - at least until Jan's transition to the Absolute Fighting Championship.

He will try to confirm the status of one of the strongest fighters in the category up to 61.2 kg in a duel with Matthäus Mattos.

He also became famous in the ACB and managed to fight with Ian.

True, unlike Magomedov, he managed to hold out for only two and a half rounds, after which he was knocked out.

For both opponents, this fight will be the first after a very long downtime.

The last time a Russian fought in November 2018, and a Brazilian in March of the same year.

ACA 115

Date and venue:

December 13, Moscow (Russia)

Significant battles: Magomed Ismailov

As for Russia, the loudest fight in December will take place at the ACA tournament in Moscow.

Magomed Ismailov will try to consolidate his status as the most popular fighter in the country and face off against Ivan Shtyrkov.

This time, the natural middleweight will rise to the light heavyweight category and again try to take over in foreign territory.

Despite the low level of excitement compared to the fight with Alexander Emelianenko, the battle with Shtyrkov carries much more risks for Ismailov.

Firstly, Ivan can compete with him not only in the standing position, but also in the stalls, and secondly, this time it is Magomed who is considered the favorite and in case of failure he can lose a lot.

And it's not just about a winning streak of 11 fights, but also superstar status.

Now Ismailov is on the hype and can not only choose rivals that are interesting to him, but also receive solid fees by Russian standards.

In case of defeat, all this can remain in the past.

At the same time, the ACA management did an excellent job and added many bright and famous athletes to the tournament card.

Especially worth noting is the ex-UFC heavyweight fighter Ruslan Magomedov, who will have to fight with Ukrainian Dmitry Poberezhets.

Also this evening will perform another representative of the most prestigious category Denis Smoldarev, the stars of the light heavyweight division Muslim Magomedov and Evgeny Egemberdiev, as well as the bright lightweight Yusuf Raisov.

UFC 256

Date and place:

December 12, Las Vegas (USA)

Significant fights:

Daveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno, Tony Ferguson vs. Charles Oliveira

Initially, Peter Yang and Aljemein Sterling were supposed to perform in the main fight, but due to a number of problems, the Russian was forced to refuse to participate in the tournament.

There was a risk that the biggest UFC show of the month would be left without a title fight, but the promotion was rescued by Daveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno.

This fight promises to be unique, if only for the reason that previously in history, the UFC champion has never defended a belt 21 days after a previous defense.

At the 255th tournament, the Brazilian dealt with Alex Perez, after which he challenged another challenger.

As Daveson admitted, he did not like some of Brandon's comments in his address, so he wanted to meet him in the cage.

At the same time, Figueiredo was not frightened either by the lack of a proper preparatory camp, nor by the need to carry out two weight cuts in less than a month.

However, it is worth noting that Moreno will not have an advantage over the champion, as he also fought at UFC 255. There he defeated Brandon Royval, and the fight also ended in the first round.

Nevertheless, Figueredo's confrontation with Moreno risks being overshadowed by another event.

It is about the return to the octagon of the former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.

In May, he suffered a crushing defeat by Justin Gaethje and missed the opportunity to fight for the belt with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Now the American will try to return to the championship race and prove that the fiasco at UFC 249 was an accident.

Charles Oliveira will try to prevent him from doing this.

He has a series of seven wins in a row and the title of one of the best lightweight grapplers.

He speaks for a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and 19 wins with painful and choke holds.

Yes, in the stance Ferguson will most likely surpass the opponent, but on the ground, even a dodgy and smart fighter like Tony can make a mistake and will be forced to surrender.

ACA 116

Date and venue:

December 18, Moscow (Russia)

Significant fights:

Felipe Froes -

As part of the last ACA tournament in 2020, there will be another fight for the belt, in which the current holder of the title in featherweight champion Felipe Froes and the veteran of mixed martial arts Marat Balaev will meet.

Initially, the opponent of the Brazilian was supposed to be Magomedrasul Khasbulayev, but Khabib Nurmagomedov's cousin was eliminated due to injury.

It should be noted that if successful, Balaev will become one of the oldest world champions in the history of MMA.

It will celebrate its 45th birthday on January 1st, and a triumph at ACA 116 could be a great birthday present.

The only question is whether Marat managed to fully recover from the rib injury he received before the duel with Khasbulayev in October.

As the athlete himself admitted, he was recommended not to fight for six months.