Ufc vegas 23
Date and venue:
April 10, Las Vegas (USA).
Significant battles: Aliaskhab Khizriev
- Kyle Daukas.
In April, the tournaments of the Absolute Fighting Championship cannot boast of a large number of participants from Russia.
Only the performance of Aliaskhab Khizriev, who will make a second attempt to debut in the largest MMA promotion of the planet, deserves serious attention.
The former Fight Nights Global welterweight champion has already tried his hand at a more prestigious category and is ready to fight for the 14th consecutive career victory.
The Russian will be opposed by another fighter, who drew attention to himself on the Dana White's Contender Series show.
True, if the early victory of Khizriev over Enrique Shigemoto in 50 seconds impressed the head of the UFC so much that he immediately offered the Russian a contract with the organization, then Daukas's path turned out to be more thorny.
The American had to return to the regional Cage Fury promotion and win twice there before making it to the UFC.
There, he also did not do well - of the two fights, he won only one, losing to the strong, but not the star Brandon Allen.
They don't really believe in Kyle even now.
Aliaskhab is dangerous both in standing and on the ground, and he completed seven of the last ten battles in the first round.
Therefore, bookmakers consider him a favorite in the upcoming duel.
Bellator 255
Date and venue:
April 2, Ancasville, USA.
Significant fights: Usman Nurmagomedov
- Mike Hamel,
Magomed Magomedov
- CJ Hamilton,
Khalid Murtazaliev
- Fabio Aguiar,
Muhamed Berkhamov
- Herman Terrado.
The April Bellator tournaments will be extremely rich for Russian fans.
Currently, the American promotion is actively exploring a new market, as a result of which the roster has replenished a number of domestic athletes.
A respectable part of them will get a chance to demonstrate their talents as early as the next weekend - at the organization's 255th show.
The main attention will be focused on the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov - Usman, as well as the former champion of the ACB (after merging with the WFCA - ACA) Magomed Magomedov.
As for the relative of the ex-UFC champion, the Bellator management did not immediately "throw him under the tanks", but put up a fight with a very feasible opponent.
Like Nurmagomedov, Mike Hamel has 11 professional fights.
But if the Russian won each of them, then the American lost four.
At the same time, he suffered three defeats even before joining a major promotion, and so far he has not won a single victory at all.
And so far there are no prerequisites that he will improve his statistics in the near future.
Usman not only has a perfect record, but also rarely brings a case to the decision of the judges.
He completed the last five battles ahead of schedule.
Unlike him, Magomed has already successfully started his career at Bellator and has earned the right to test debutants.
He will be opposed by CJ Hamilton, who continues to search for a suitable weight category.
He started in the bantamweight division, then dropped lower, but a series of failures forced him to put on weight again.
Recently, the American has gained good shape and won two times in a row, but this does not allow us to consider him a worthy competitor for Magomedov, who was previously only second to Peter Yan.
He is rightly considered one of the best wrestlers in the category and will certainly confirm this status.
Fights with the participation of two other Russians will be no less curious.
Both are returning after a long downtime: Khalid Murtazaliev has not fought since September 2018, and Mukhamed Berkhamov - August 2019.
At the same time, they will not be opposed by the weakest opponents.
Fabio Aguiar has an unbeaten streak of nine fights, and Anatoly Tokov was to become his first rival in Bellator, which speaks of the level of trust on the part of the matchmakers.
Against his background, Herman Terrado looks more modest, but he also has something to brag about.
Take at least the experience of performances in the PFL, as well as 93.3% of early victories.
Bellator 257
Date and venue:
April 16, Ancasville (USA).
Significant fights: Vadim Nemkov
- Phil Davis (light heavyweight title).
The main fight of the month with the participation of the Russians will take place in mid-April, when the current holder of the light heavyweight belt, Vadim Nemkov, will face the first challenger Phil Davis.
Moreover, the triumphant will not only receive a trophy, but will also reach the Grand Prix semifinals and come close to winning a cash prize of $ 1 million.
Earlier, Nemkov had already fought with Davis.
The first fight took place in November 2018 at a tournament in Tel Aviv, and the Russian took over with a split decision.
Moreover, the show was shown in the recording, so the fans learned about its results even before the end of the broadcast.
Vadim not only looked more confident in the stance, but at least competed on equal terms with the fighter of the first division of the NCAA in his element.
As for the status of the favorite, then they can be called Nemkov.
It's not just the excellent condition of the champion himself, which is confirmed by his unconditional victory over Ryan Bader.
Davis will turn 37 in September, and at that age even light heavyweights find it difficult to maintain their former shape.
Given the fact that Phil's main hopes are connected with the fight, and it is she who takes the most of his strength, it can be very difficult for him.
PFL 2021 # 1
Date and venue:
April 23, Atlantic City (USA).
Significant battles: Movlid Khaibulaev
- Jason Soares,
Akhmet Aliev
- Mikhail Odintsov.
In April, the tournaments of another major American promotion, the Professional Fighters League, are resumed.
Against the background of the rest, it stands out due to the competition system, reminiscent of the championship in hockey and basketball.
First, fighters take part in the regular season, receiving points for a win and a draw, as well as additional points for knockouts and submissions.
Based on this, the standings are formed, and the best athletes get the right to play in the playoffs and compete for the title and a cash prize of $ 1 million.
In 2021, there are six weight categories in the PFL championship, in each of which ten athletes will compete for the playoffs.
Russia will be represented by seven fighters, and two of them will fight at the first show.
For both Movlid Khaibulaev and Akhmet Aliyev, this will not be a debut in the league.
Two years earlier, both made it to the playoffs, but failed to advance beyond the second round.
Khaibulaev should be especially offended.
In the quarterfinals, he lost to Daniel Pineda, who subsequently passed a positive doping test.
The American was disqualified, and the battle was declared invalid, but this was a little consolation for Movlid.
Now he will have to re-pave the way to the playoffs, and the undefeated Jason Soares will try to prevent him.
The former Titan FC champion not only has a perfect record of 14 fights, but is also renowned for his skills on the ground.
The American is a world grappling champion, participated in The Ultimate Fighter season as a coach and was a sparring partner of former UFC champion Dominic Cruz.
Aliyev was a little more fortunate.
His opponent spent most of his career in his native Belarus and Ukraine, only in the last year having tried himself in the RCC.
Aliyev has a huge experience of performing in large organizations and the status of the current semi-finalist of the championship on his side.
Moreover, in the playoffs, he was stopped only by the reigning lightweight champion - Nathan Schulte.
PFL 2021 # 2
Date and venue:
April 29, Atlantic City (USA).
Significant battles: Magomed Magomedkerimov
-
Joao Zeferino,
Alexey Kunchenko
- Glayson Tibau,
Nikolay Aleksakhin
- Sadibu Si.
Later, three other representatives of Russia will join the fight, all of them in the welterweight division.
The most prestigious is the battle with the participation of Magomed Magomedkerimov, who was entrusted with closing the preliminary card.
Two years ago, the Russian went through the regular season without defeat and confidently made it to the semifinals, but was forced to abandon the fight due to injury.
Joao Zeferino will try to interrupt his streak of 11 victories.
The Brazilian also participated in the championship, but was unable to win a ticket to the playoffs.
The opposition of other welterweights is also curious.
Alexey Kunchenko will try to rehabilitate himself for an unsuccessful segment in the UFC and interrupt a streak of two defeats.
Glayson Tibau will try to prevent him.
At one time, he was considered a prominent representative of lightweight and defeated future champion Rafael Dos Anjos, but now many remember him solely thanks to an ambiguous defeat from Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The Russian took over with a unanimous decision, which was criticized not only by the fans, but also by the commentator Joe Rogan.
However, later Tibau lost his power and has long been no longer such a formidable fighter.
Of the last 14 battles, only eight have ended in his favor.
Against the Brazilian, the almost complete lack of experience in performances in welterweight speaks.
Previously, he only fought twice in this category, and the last time was in 2006.
Then he was knocked out in the second round by Nick Diaz.
On paper, Aleksakhin was the luckiest one with the lot.
Over the past two and a half years, Xi entered the cage five times, but only once left it as a triumphant (two defeats, two draws).
The Russian, on the other hand, has not lost since December 2016 and is determined to extend the successful streak.
ACA 121
Date and venue:
April 9, Minsk (Belarus).
Azamat Kerefov
- Rasul Albaskhanov (flyweight title),
Magomedrasul Hasanov
- Nikola Dipchikov (interim middleweight title).
As at the end of March, the Russian promotion will delight you with two title fights at once.
But if Hasanov and Dipchikov compete for a temporary belt and the right to fight with Salam Abdurakhmanov, who continues to recover from injury, then Kerefov and Albaskhanov will challenge the title of the strongest fighter in the lightest division.
Azamat is rightly considered the favorite.
If successful, he will win the 15th career victory in a row and strengthen his status as one of the strongest in the category up to 56.7 kg among compatriots.
ONE on TNT 2
Date and venue:
April 14, Kallang (Singapore).
Timofey Nastyukhin
- Christian Lee (welterweight title).
The Singapore organization will host two title fights in April with the participation of the Russians.
In the first of them, Timofey Nastyukhin will try to prove that his sensational success in a duel with Eddie Alvarez was not an accident.
This will not be easy.
Christian Lee not only did not concede for a long time, but finished four of the last five battles by knockout.
Moreover, among the defeated was Saygid Gusein Arslanaliev, who sent Nastyukhin to the flooring in 2018.
ONE on TNT 4
Date and venue:
April 28, Kallang (Singapore).
Vitaly Bigdash
- Aung La Nsang (light heavyweight title).
Two weeks later, a colorful trilogy between fighters from Russia and Myanmar will end.
In 2017, rivals fought twice for the middleweight title, and then each chalked up a victory.
First, Bigdash successfully completed the first and only defense, and then lost to Nsang.
Moreover, both times the outcome of the duel was decided by the judges.
The third series of their confrontation will take place in the division up to 102.1 kg, and success can make Vitaly the first national ONE FC champion in history in two categories.