Ufc 265

Date and place

: August 7, Houston (USA)

Notable fights

: Derrick Lewis vs. Cyril Gan (interim heavyweight title). 

At the moment, one of the main tournaments of August has already ended, which did not receive due attention from the Russian public and the media because of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. And this despite the fact that in the main fight of the evening, not only the holder of the interim heavyweight title was determined, but also the future rival of Francis Ngannu. Derrick Lewis, with the support of his native fans from Houston, tried to defeat Cyril Gahn, who had never lost in any of the nine fights before.

This did not happen over the weekend.

In the duel of Alexander Volkov's two offenders, a Frenchman took the upper hand, whose manner of fighting was extremely inconvenient for the American.

Gun worked at a distance, which did not prevent him from surpassing Lewis more than six times in the number of significant punches (98:16), and in the third round to knock out.

Also, the show in Houston was remembered for the jubilee, 30th victory of the former featherweight champion Jose Aldo, the spectacular choke Vicente Luca and the continuation of the successful series of Rafael Fiziev.

This time, the Kyrgyz fighter dealt with Bobby Green and won for the fourth time in a row.

PFL 2021 # 7

Date and place

: August 13, Hollywood (USA)

Significant battles

: 

Magomed Magomedkerimov

- Sadibu Si,

Magomed Umalatov

- Mika Terrill. 

Meanwhile, the Professional Fighters League kicks off the playoffs, where several Russian fighters will compete for the title of champion in six different divisions and a fee of $ 1 million.

Welterweight Magomed Magomedkerimov will be the first to enter the cage, facing a difficult fight with Sadibu Si.

Initially, the Russian was supposed to fight with Joao Zeferino, but he withdrew from the tournament.

He was replaced by an athletic Swede who finished fifth in the regular season.

It is noteworthy that Xi also had two previous fights with opponents from Russia.

The fight with Nikolai Aleksakhin was declared invalid due to eye damage from the domestic athlete, and the battle with Alexei Kunchenko ended in favor of the Swede.

However, this is unlikely to scare Magomedkerimov, who has 12 victories in a row.

Outside the tournament, another welterweight will perform.

Magomed Umalatov will try to successfully debut in the PFL, and Mika Terrill will try to prevent him.

However, the American's chances seem extremely low.

Until now, the Russian has won all ten battles, and each of them ahead of schedule.

Bellator 264

Date and place

: August 13, Uncasville (USA)

Significant fights

: Geghard Musasi - John Salter (middleweight champion title),

Andrey Koreshkov

- Sabakh Homasi,

Magomed Magomedov

- Raufeon Stots.

In the main fight, Geghard Musasi will hold the first defense of the middleweight title. His opponent will be the leader of the rating, John Salter, who has a streak of three victories in a row. True, it is not worth paying much attention to this, because only one of his former counterparts is now listed in the top 10 of the organization's rating. During his career, the American has never met with rivals of the Dutch caliber and therefore is deservedly considered an underdog in the upcoming battle.

Also, two Russians will perform in Uncasville at once. Andrei Koreshkov will hold the first fight under the auspices of the promotion since October 2019, and his opponent will be, albeit not the most stellar, but dangerous puncher - Sabah Homasi. A victory over him guarantees teammate Alexander Shlemenko a return to the top ten welterweight organizations of the organization, from which he dropped out due to a long downtime, coupled with unsatisfactory results (two defeats in the last four fights).

If Koreshkov only hopes to rise again to the top of the division and regain his lost title, then Magomed Magomedov is only one step away from the status of the first contender.

At the moment, he occupies the third position in the ranking, and the victory over the fourth number Raufeon Stosem will surely guarantee him the opportunity to meet with Sergio Pettis.

And so far there is no reason to doubt the future success of the Tiger.

In terms of wrestling skills, he surpasses the vast majority of opponents and is unlikely to experience problems in a duel with an American.

PFL 2021 # 8

Date and place

: August 19, Hollywood (USA)

Significant fights

: 

Denis Goltsov

- Ante Delia,

Marina Mokhnatkina

- Caitlin Young. 

On August 19, the next PFL event will take place, within which the finalists in the Grand Prix of the heavy division will be determined. In this category, the only representative of Russia was Denis Goltsov, who won two early victories during the regular season. And there is every reason to believe that in the semifinals he is able to win again by knockout. Opposing him will be Ante Delia, nicknamed The Walking Problem, who made his way to the playoffs despite a crushing defeat to Bruno Cappelozzi - the Croat was on the floor just 46 seconds later.

Goltsov will be accompanied by Marina Mokhnatkina, who is ready to make a second attempt to gain a foothold in the American promotion.

For the past two years, she has been listed with Bellator, but has failed to establish herself.

The Russian took the upper hand in one fight out of two, after which she decided to move to the PFL.

The first test for her will be Caitlin Young with a 12-11-1 record.

Bellator 265

Date and venue

: August 20, Sioux Falls (USA)

Significant fights

: 

Sergey Kharitonov

- Cheik Congo.

At the same time, eminent heavyweights continue to return to the promotion of Scott Cocker. But if the next fight of Vitaly Minakov takes place only at the end of October, then Sergey Kharitonov will fight in August. And immediately against the third number of the Cheika Congo category - more than a serious test, the successful overcoming of which can return the Russian to the elite of the division.

The only question is what form Kharitonov is in and how motivated he is to continue the campaign for the belt, from the conquest of which he is separated by compatriot Valentin Moldavsky and American star Ryan Bader.

After the defeat to Linton Vassell in November 2019, Sergei fought exclusively at home, and his opponents were frankly weak.

Moreover, both in MMA and in boxing, where he had two fights.

Another defeat could completely deprive him of hopes of winning the trophy and put an end to his career at Bellator.

PFL 2021 # 9

Date and place

: August 27, Hollywood (USA)

Significant battles

: 

Movlid Khaibulaev

- Brendan Lonein. 

The third PFL tournament in August will also not be complete without representatives of Russia.

But if the compatriots of Movlid Khaibulev fought to warm up, then the featherweight himself will crown the next show of the organization.

His opponent will be Brendan Lownane, who took first place in the regular season.

Like his counterpart, the Englishman won twice, and ended one of the duels with a knockout in the first round, thanks to which he soared to the first line.

However, this fact does not allow him to be considered the favorite in the duel with the Russian.

Khaibulaev has tremendous experience and focuses on the stand, which qualitatively distinguishes him from most other Dagestani athletes.

However, this aspect of his game should not be underestimated.

School of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and sparring with Khabib could not be in vain.

ACA 127

Date and venue

: August 28, Krasnodar (Russia)

Significant fights

: 

Azamat Kerefov

- Rasul Albaskhanov (flyweight title),

Salman Zhamaldaev

- Diego Brandao,

Mukhumat Vakhaev

- Rafael Pessoa

After more than a month's pause, one of the largest Russian promotions is also resuming activity. At the end of August, ACA 127 will take place, and the main event will be the fight for the flyweight title between the undefeated Azamat Kerefov and Rasul Albaskhanov. They were supposed to meet back in April, but the champion was injured and had to postpone the second defense for four months. And it is possible that the athlete's personal fans would have to wait even longer, if not for the problems of Magomedrasul Khasbulayev. Initially, it was the holder of the featherweight belt who was supposed to perform on this show, but his plans were also disrupted by an injury.

Among other things, the upcoming tournament promises to be remembered for the return of the former heavyweight champion Mukhumat Vakhaev, whose opponent will be the Brazilian Rafael Pessoa, as well as the rematch between Salman Zhamaldaev and Diego Brandao.

In March, they already met with each other, but the fight was stopped after an illegal strike performed by the Brazilian.

For breaking the rules, he was punished with defeat, with which he did not accept.

Ufc

vegas 35

Date and place

: August 28, Las Vegas (USA)

Significant fights

: 

Aliaskhab Khizriev

- Alessio Di Chirico

The final chord in August will be the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Las Vegas. No, his card cannot be called stellar, but some interesting battles are still planned. So, in the featherweight division, there will be a meeting of two bright drummers - Edson Barbosa and Gigi Chikadze, and on average, two important events will take place at once. Uzbek Mahmud Muradov will try to win a third early victory in a row and get closer to getting into the top 15 ratings, while Russian Aliaskhab Khizriev will make his long-awaited debut in the UFC.

The member of Dana White's Contender Series was supposed to try his hand at the largest MMA promotion on the planet back in February, but since then the fights with his participation have been canceled twice. First, his rival, Wellington Thurman, was injured, and the battle between Khizriev and Kyle Dakas was canceled due to the coronavirus. This time, the Italian Alessio Di Chirico was determined to be his opponent, and it remains to be hoped that nothing will prevent Aliaskhab from entering the octagon. The undefeated Russian is not in vain considered one of the most promising representatives of his category.