Zavurov's unsuccessful "hunt"

The attention of Russian fans of mixed martial arts this week was riveted to the tournament in memory of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, which took place in Moscow on September 17. The card show was not as stellar as last year, but it still included some interesting fights. Of course, the farewell fight of EFC President Shamil Zavurov stood apart, in which he was opposed by the current AMC Fight Nights lightweight champion Nariman Abbasov.

One of the students of Nurmagomedov Sr.in the spring announced his intention to hang his gloves on a nail, and the intrigue was only in who would become the last opponent in his career. According to 37-year-old Zavurov, he was offered to fight with fighters of a lower level, but he himself insisted on meeting with the champion. And in this case, one can only admire the courage of the Lev of Dagestan. After all, the age difference between the athletes is ten years, and Abbasov's winning streak consisted of 11 fights in a row.

However, this time Zavurov's ambition was not rewarded. The MMA veteran could not compete with a younger opponent and was knocked out in the first round. Starting from the third minute, Abbasov's superiority became overwhelming, and 50 seconds before the gong, he pinched the opponent at the net and with the right overhand laid him on the canvas. A finishing move followed, but the judge intervened in time and stopped the fight. However, this did not save from the emergence of a conflict situation. Shamil's cousin Magomedrasul Khasbulaev burst into the cage and almost provoked a brawl with the winner, but his teammate calmed him down in time. As a result, Khabib Nurmagomedov had to apologize for the behavior of the ACA featherweight champion.

At the end of the fight, Zavurov made a touching speech in which he expressed regret that he could not leave beautifully, dedicated his speech to Abdulmanap Magomedovich, and also thanked Khabib for his support.

Obviously upset by this outcome of the battle, the ex-UFC champion did not take the floor, but later turned to Shamil on social networks.

 “Thank you, brother, for everything.

You were always there, my development as a person and success in sports are directly related to you ... Allah surrounded me with many worthy people who subsequently influenced me positively and are of great importance in my life, because the environment is of great importance, but you are along with my father was in the first place.

Head up, because everything is just beginning, "wrote Nurmagomedov.

The show was also remembered for the early victory of Samandar Murodov, who won the EFC welterweight title, the success of Saygid Izagakhmaev and the successful return of Ibragim Chuzhigaev, who had not performed for two years.

However, as it turned out, the tournament was on the verge of collapse until the last moment.

“If not for Khabib, this tournament would not have happened.

Well, or maybe it would have passed without spectators.

Khabib himself got involved in conversations with the police.

He made calls, talked, talked.

Khabib is already a grated kalach - the son of his father.

He gave arguments why this tournament should pass, and not that he is Khabib, and this tournament should pass.

No.

Everything was beautiful, ”Kamil Hajiyev, head of AMC Fight Nights, told Sport-Ekprsessu.

Spectacular knockout of Tsarukyan and the end of Murtazaliev's successful streak

On the night of September 19, two of the largest MMA promotions - UFC and Bellator - held their tournaments in the United States, and domestic fighters performed within each of them. True, with varying degrees of success. If Arman Tsarukyan won and made a claim to be among the 12 strongest lightweights, then Khalid Murtazaliev could not cope with his opponent and suffered his first defeat since May 2017.

It took Tsarukyan only 129 seconds to deal with Christos Giagos.

The Russian of Armenian origin confidently started the fight and immediately indicated his superiority in the standing position, but missed the takedown and found himself in a difficult position.

The American tried desperately to pass the opponent's butterfly guard, but failed, and then allowed him to return to an upright position.

An exchange of blows began again, in which Armand looked much stronger.

The counter left hook sent the opponent to the floor, after which a flurry of punches fell on his head.

Tsarukyan won by technical knockout and not only won his fourth victory in a row in the UFC, but also received a cash bonus of $ 50,000 for the evening's performance for the first time.

After the battle, Armand expressed confidence that he was ready to fight with representatives of the top ten and challenged Dan Hooker.

Otherwise, UFC Vegas 37 turned out to be not the brightest - largely due to the lack of first-magnitude stars and exciting duels. We can only mention the 36th victory in the career of Anthony Smith, who strangled Ryan Spann, as well as the triumphs of Moldovan Ion Cucelaba and American Joaquin Buckley. The author of one of the most beautiful knockouts in the history of mixed martial arts rehabilitated for the defeat from Alessio Di Chirico and dealt with Antonio Arroyo ahead of schedule. As a result, there is also a $ 50K bonus.

In turn, Khalid Murtazaliev was not so successful in Bellator 266. For three rounds he could not adapt to the manner of fighting Anthony Adams and lost by unanimous decision. The Russian failed to find the distance, delivered significantly fewer punches (27:40) and did not score a single successful transfer to the ground. The American worked as number two and did not threaten his opponent with a knockout, but this was enough to win the judges over to his side. All three gave him the victory with a score of 29:28.

In the most anticipated match of the tournament, Yoel Romero and Phil Davis met.

Due to eye damage, the debut of the 44-year-old Cuban in the organization was a little delayed, but from this it was no less expected.

However, it did not work to mark it with a triumph.

The American was overwhelmingly stronger and not only delivered more punches, but also transferred the silver medalist of the 2000 Olympics in freestyle wrestling to the canvas five times.

In light of this, the decision by one of the judges to give two of three rounds to the former contender for the UFC middleweight title looks surprising.

The other two, as expected, sided with Davis (30:27, 30:26) and helped him rehabilitate for the defeat by Vadim Nemkov.

Romero lost his third fight in a row and demonstrated that over the years it has become increasingly difficult for him to compete with younger opponents.