One of three: how Khaibulaev won the PFL Grand Prix final, and Magomedkerimov and Akhmedov lost by knockout

The main attention of fans of mixed martial arts at the end of October is focused on the representative UFC tournament in Abu Dhabi, but the PFL Grand Prix 2021 final had the right to be considered no less interesting event. If only for the reason that not only championship belts were played in Fort Lauderdale (Florida), but also $ 6 million in prize money - a lot of money by the standards of MMA. And a third of the amount could be earned by Russian fighters. True, for this, Movlid Khaibulaev needed to defeat the former UFC representative Chris Wade, and Magomed Magomedkerimov needed to win the rematch of Ray Cooper III.

The matchmakers did not limit themselves solely to the fights within the framework of the championship final and tried to make the card as rich and attractive as possible for the fans. In particular, it included ex-world boxing champion in three weight categories Claressa Shields and UFC veteran Omari Akhmedov. And if the American fought her second fight after switching to mixed martial arts, then the Russian made her debut in a new organization for herself. But this evening, both stars failed to show their strong qualities.

For nine years, Akhmedov was more than successful in welterweight and middleweight, winning 16 of 22 bouts, but suddenly decided to move up to the light heavyweight division.

And there, as expected, he met with an opponent exceeding him in size.

Jordan Young was significantly taller than the domestic athlete, and the difference in arm span was 21 cm. In such conditions, it was extremely difficult for Omari to work in a rack and had to rely on his trademark wrestling.

And up to a certain point, he managed to impose his style on Yang.

Akhmedov dominated for most of the first two rounds: he pressed great on his feet, twice found himself in a position from above on the ground.

Moreover, during the second five minutes, he spent a rear naked choke and was close to an early victory, but his opponent held out.

By the beginning of the final segment, Akhmedov had a colossal advantage, and this concerned not only takedowns (2: 0), but also accurate hits (38:14). Only the dissection that opened under the right eye and a hint of fatigue could disturb. Even at the end of the second round, the Russian noticeably "breathed" and allowed Young to seize the initiative a little, and in the third round the problems with functional training manifested themselves in full. Jordan thrust one deuce after the other into his opponent's head, and Omari's face was drenched in blood. The exhausted Russian could not come to his senses. The right uppercut became fatal, as a result of which he went to the flooring and suffered the seventh defeat of his career.

In turn, the battle between Shields and Abigail Montes lasted the entire distance.

Claressa, as expected, looked more dangerous in a standing position, but in clinching and wrestling she was noticeably inferior to her opponent.

As a result, she failed to win ahead of schedule, and the opinions of the judges were divided.

Only one of them gave preference to the American, while two sided with the athlete from Mexico.

The next of the Russians to enter the cage was Khaibulaev.

The pupil of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov won all three fights in the Grand Prix, although he did not always perform well in the cage.

To collect the belt and cash bonus, he needed to deal with Chris Wade.

Earlier, the American took part in two similar tournaments under the auspices of the promotion, but only on the third attempt he managed to overcome the semifinal barrier.

True, until this season he fought in lightweight, and in the category up to 65.8 kg he did not know defeat.

However, in the finals, it became clear that after leaving the UFC, Wade was practically unable to make any progress.

His striking technique still left much to be desired, and it was extremely difficult for him to compete with Khaibulaev in the fight.

Yes, he did not allow Movlid to reign undividedly on the canvas and resisted with dignity in the clinch, but he himself could not perform anything significant.

It was Khaibulaev who decided how the duel would go and worked as the first number, thanks to which he gradually strengthened his advantage.

Several times he made his way behind Wade's back and tried to throw a choke, dangerously hitting his knee in the clinch and in the jump, but failed to complete the fight ahead of schedule.

Nevertheless, the judges are unlikely to have doubts about the triumphant.

The undefeated Russian surpassed the American in both the number of strikes (110: 79) and takedowns (8: 0) and won the 19th fight of his career.

In the second most important fight of the evening, Magomedkerimov and Cooper III met.

The high excitement around this confrontation was quite understandable, because in the cage there were two Grand Prix winners and, in combination, the strongest welterweight promotion.

In 2018, the Russian won the championship, strangling the American in the final, and a year later he took advantage of his counterpart's injury and won $ 1 million.

At first it seemed that Magomedkerimov could easily repeat the success of three years ago and deal with Cooper again.

Even though he often looked too cautious in the standing position and preferred to play mostly low kicks, he compensated for this with confident actions on the ground.

Takedown and control did their job and allowed Magomed to impress the jury.

But in the second segment, Cooper suddenly managed to seize the initiative. The American, who was 15 cm inferior in height, tirelessly continued to press down on the Russian and still achieved his goal. No, it was not possible to carry out a powerful series of punches, but it turned out to send the opponent to the floor with a spectacular throw. And Ray was pretty convincing about that. Unlike Magomed, he not only kept the opponent down, but also thrust one powerful blow into the head after another, and also threatened with a hand triangle.

Thus, each of the opponents demonstrated their skills on the ground and took five minutes each. However, in the course of the third round, it became clear that there was no need to study the judges' notes. Magomedkerimov finally found his distance and began to work on Cooper's head. At times it might seem that he was in a standing knockdown, but referee Gary Copeland did not dare to stop the battle, but only closely watched what was happening.

And as it turned out, he was absolutely right.

Magomedkerimov's powerful spurt took too much of his strength.

An unsuccessful attempt to end the fight ahead of schedule led to the fact that he was noticeably tired and became vulnerable to Cooper's attacks.

The stocky American first threw the Russian back, and then knocked him out with the most powerful right cross.

Ray became the third in the history of the PFL two-time Grand Prix winner and interrupted Magomed's unbeaten streak of 13 fights.

The last time he lost in March 2015.

Apart from welterweight, only one of the remaining Grand Prix finals was won by the nominal underdog.

Loik Radjabov lost to Raush Manfio by unanimous decision and for the second time in a row stopped one step away from the coveted million.

In 2019, he spent the entire fight with Nathan Schulte, but also failed to convince the jury.

Otherwise, everything ended as expected.

Bruno Capelozza dealt with Ante Delia, the offender of Denis Goltsov, and Antonio Carlos Junior strangled Martin Hamlet in the first round.

In turn, Kayla Harrison at the end of the second five-minute caught Taylor Guardado on the elbow lever and confirmed that she is one of the strongest female fighters on the planet.

At the moment, the record in MMA of the two-time Olympic champion in judo is 12-0.