Emelianenko's arrival, Djigan's performance and Isbulaev's triumph: what will be remembered for the 2021 Russian MMA Championship

The Russian MMA Championship is the most important national mixed martial arts tournament among amateurs. Based on its results, not only medal holders are determined, but also teams are formed that will represent the country at the world and continental championships. According to the regulations, the winners of gold and silver medals received tickets to a more prestigious tournament, while athletes ranked from third to sixth to continental competitions.

The choice of the venue for the tournament cannot be called random. As the head of the MMA Union of Russia, Radmir Gabdullin, explained, the organization focuses on the development of mixed martial arts in the regions and tries, whenever possible, to time the competitions on important dates in their history. Therefore, the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Kuzbass was an ideal occasion to organize a championship in Kemerovo. It is not surprising that the championship included a cultural program, and the head of the International MMA Federation (IMMAF) Kerrit Brown came to watch the athletes. The functionary himself took part in an industrial art performance, and the final day of the competition was remembered for the performance of the famous rapper Djigan. This is especially noteworthy due to the fact that up to now there are ongoing talks about his possible fight according to the rules of boxing with Alexander Emelianenko.

Kemerovo was also visited by the former absolute world champion in light welterweight Konstantin Tszyu, the head of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR) Vladislav Tretyak and Natalia Ragozina, who has not suffered a single defeat in her professional boxing career. But the main event was the arrival of the former president of the MMA Union of Russia Fedor Emelianenko, who was the face of the tournament and personally watched the final battles. Former PRIDE champion praised the organization of the competition in Kemerovo.

As for the championship itself, it lasted for three days. In the first two days, quarterfinals and semifinals were held in 16 weight categories for men and women, and on the third day, fights for gold medals were held. In the preliminary stages, an important feature was the use of two cells, strikingly different in size. Fighters of the light and heavier weight categories fought in a full-size, nine-meter cage, while girls and representatives of the lightest divisions - in a six-meter cage. In such conditions, the wrestlers had a solid advantage, for whom it was not difficult to reduce the distance and transfer opponents to the ground. Perhaps it is for this reason that a solid part of the battles took place mainly on the ground and ended with suffocation and painful techniques.

The final bouts took place in a nine-meter cage, as a result of which the emphasis shifted slightly towards striking technique.

Of course, the fight still prevailed, but there were much more exchanges in the stand.

At the same time, the first early victory was obtained precisely on the canvas.

Young Daria Pirogova didn’t leave a chance to 42-year-old Olga Lagodnaya and finished off from a full mount position.

Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of battles still lasted all the planned three rounds of three minutes, as a result of which the fate of the awards had to be decided by the judges.

And their opinion did not always coincide with the position of the athletes.

The defeated featherweight fighter Shaidikhan Khamamedov was so unhappy that he not only refused to wear a silver medal, but also talked in a raised voice with the chief judge of the championship Viktor Korneev for a long time.

One of the most intense and exciting fights of the evening took place in the men's flyweight category.

In the first round, Bektur Jenishbek uulu completely surpassed Ibragim Kartoev in the standing position, but in the second he missed the takedown and spent most of the three minutes on the canvas.

In the final segment, the native of the Novosibirsk region decided to demonstrate his wrestling skills himself and miscalculated.

His attempts to transfer the enemy to the ground were not so successful, in connection with which the arbiters could not determine the triumphant.

As a result, an extra round was appointed, in which Bektur left no chance for the tired Ibrahim.

This time he managed to get to his feet, after which he took a dominant position and began to beat his counterpart on the ground.

The referee had no choice but to stop the duel.

Another memorable event was the performance of Salamat Isbulaev.

The reigning European champion was considered not only the favorite in the 70 kg division, but also one of the most spectacular participants in the championship.

In the final, he completely surpassed Akhmed Khadayev and amazed many with the ease and ease with which he worked in the cage.

The athlete from Orenburg looked great in a stance, delighting the fans with spectacular "turntables", and one of his kicks on the body almost brought the duel to a halt.

He also excelled in wrestling, not only avoiding re-ground attempts, but taking takedowns himself.

Nevertheless, he was unable to win an early victory, as a result of which the impression of his performance, albeit a little, but blurred.

However, 24-year-old Isbulaev has demonstrated that he is rightfully considered one of the rising stars of Russian MMA.

A slight disappointment was the fact that the two final fights did not take place at once. Light heavy and heavyweight fighters Jamal Medzhidov and Shamil Kuramagomedov did not have to prove their superiority in the cage, since their opponents could not compete for medical reasons. Compensation for this was the duel of the representatives of the division over 120.2 kilograms, which made its debut in the program of the Russian championship. Murad Dzhamaldinov knocked out Shamsutdin Makhmudov and became the champion of Russia.