Askarov's campaign for the belt and the test for Oleinik: the most anticipated fights with the participation of Russians in October, in addition to UFC 280

UFC Fight Night 211

Date and place

: October 1, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights

: 

- Mike Davis,

- Ilir Latifi,

- Filipe Lins.

October will open with the traditional weekly tournament of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Las Vegas, in which three Russians will enter the cage at once.

Once again Alexei Oleinik and Ilir Latifi will try to fight, whose duel has already been postponed twice.

And both times through the fault of the Swede.

In March, he cited illness, and in April, he withdrew without explanation.

As a result, Oleinik had to fight 30-year-old Jared Vanderaa, but the age difference did not help the American.

The famous grappler already in the first round caught the opponent with a choke and won the 60th anniversary victory in his career.

Maxim Grishin will also try to extend the successful streak, waiting for the fight with Filipe Lins.

The Brazilian is a tough opponent, and even won the PFL Heavyweight Grand Prix in 2018, but hasn't been able to shine as brightly at a higher level.

In the UFC, he suffered two defeats in a row, after which he dropped down the division and, not without difficulty, took over the strong Marcin Prachnyo.

It is noteworthy that on the way to this, for various reasons, six battles with his participation broke down at once.

And often the reason for this was his health problems.

In turn, Vyacheslav Borshchev will try to rehabilitate himself for his recent failure.

In March, he was unable to match the wrestling skills of Mark Diakezi and lost for the first time in the UFC.

Mike Davis is not at all like his former opponent and relies on boxing skills that he previously honed in the hall of Casa D'Amato, Mike Tyson's legendary mentor.

But for a Russian, this is even a plus.

In the standing position, he is very dangerous and quite capable of surprising the American.

Bellator 286

Date and place

: October 1, Long Beach (USA).

Significant fights

: 

- Adam Borich (featherweight title),

- Nick Brown,

-

,

- Jay Jay Wilson.

On the same day, the show of the second largest MMA promotion on the planet will take place.

And here four domestic athletes will immediately enter the cage, and two will argue with each other.

On paper, the more stellar Murtazaliev looks like the favorite of a purely Russian confrontation, but it is still difficult to say whether he drew conclusions from the defeat of Anthony Adams.

The unpredictability of this duel is added by the fact that both return after a long pause.

If Khalid hasn’t fought since September 2021, then Khadzhimurat Bestaev hasn’t fought since August.

Also, two domestic lightweights will perform in Long Beach at once.

Vladimir Tokov will try to get closer to getting into the top 10 category, and Islam Mammadov will make an attempt to enter the pool of contenders for the title.

He could well have been in it back in January, but lost to the illustrious Benson Henderson.

Now in front of him is Nick Brown, a former LFA champion with a solid record (13-1), but not a star.

He spent most of his career in regional organizations, and so far in Bellator he has fought only with not the most serious rivals.

Nevertheless, the battle is interesting primarily from a stylistic point of view.

The Russian is famous for his withering wrestling, and the American is very good on the ground, which is confirmed by six victories by submission.

ACA 146

Date and place

: October 4, Grozny (Russia).

Notable fights

: Salamu Abdurakhmanov

- Rene Pessoa, Albert Tumenov - Gadzhimurad Hiramomedov, Rustam Kerimov - Carlos Augusto da Silva.

Several important events will take place at the traditional October ACA tournament in Grozny.

The main event of the evening will feature former middleweight champion Salamu Abdurakhmanov, who has only entered the cage twice in the past three years due to injuries.

But much more excitement causes the return of Albert Tumenov to the league.

In November 2019, he spent the last fight under the auspices of the promotion and left it as a champion in the hope of breaking into the UFC again.

However, neither the fighter's track record nor his loud statements could convince Dana White.

"The best boxer in the MMA world" never received a contract, as a result of which he decided to continue his career in his homeland.

At about the same time, Rustam Kerimov found himself in a similar situation.

He left the ACA as an undefeated bantamweight title holder and even had a championship offer, but visa problems prevented him from getting there.

Since that moment, he has already managed to win twice, and if he extends the series, he may well become the first contender for the trophy.

And Carlos Augusto da Silva is not at all like an opponent who is able to interfere with him.

AMC

Fight

Nights 115

Date and place

: October 14, Sochi (Russia).

Significant fights

: Yusup Shuaev - Grigory Ponomarev (heavyweight title), Vartan Asatryan - Anatoly Kondratiev (flyweight title), Gleb Khabibulin - Anzor Chakaev (vacant featherweight title).

Ten days later, another Russian league will present a powerful response.

As part of the next AMC Fight Nights tournament, three duels for the belt will take place at once, and the long-awaited rematch between heavyweight stars will crown the show.

The first bout ended in a scandal after the referee unexpectedly raised Grigory Ponomarev, who was in a dominant position, after which he missed the hardest blow and ended up in a deaf knockout.

After seven months, the representative of the Fedor Team will have the opportunity to rehabilitate, however, it will not be easy to use it.

It was after that incident that the management led a limit on the time spent on the ground, and in boxing Yusup Shuaev looks preferable.

The other two fights also promise to be quite tense.

Flyweight title holder Vartan Asatryan will make his first defense against Anatoly Kondratiev, while Anzor Chakaev and Gleb Khabibulin will compete for the vacant featherweight belt.

Both have six wins.

But if the first of the contenders has an ideal record, then the second one has two draws and one defeat.

KSW 75

Date and venue

: October 14, Novi Sad (Poland).

Significant fights

: 

- Ivan Erslan (light heavyweight title).

On the same day, Russian fighter Ibragim Chuzhigaev, who has recently competed under the Turkish flag, will make his first defense.

In January, he made his debut in the Polish promotion KSW and in his first fight won the light heavyweight belt, defeating local athlete Tomas Narkun by unanimous decision.

Now he is waiting for a meeting with the Croatian drummer Ivan Erslan, eight of whose 12 victories were won by knockout.

True, this hardly scares Chuzhigaev himself.

At the moment, his unbeaten streak includes seven fights, and among his "victims" are both ACA fighter Peter Strus and former UFC representative Alex Garcia.

In terms of experience, he is noticeably superior to Erslan, and in percussion technique he is unlikely to yield.

UFC

Fight

Night 212

Date and place

: October 15, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights

: 

- Brandon Royal.

In turn, the Russian flyweight fighter will make an attempt to close the insulting defeat from Kai Cara-France and re-enter the fight for the title of contender.

It is all the more curious that he will be opposed by an opponent who previously not only took the upper hand over the Australian, but “strangled” him already at the beginning of the second round.

True, after that, the American won only two out of four fights and now closes the top five of the strongest representatives of the category.

For Askarov, this will be a kind of moment of truth.

If successful, he can either get the right to fight again with the third number of the rating Alexandre Pantozha, or immediately go to the championship fight.

The confrontation between Deiveson Figueredo and Brandon Moreno cannot last forever and will probably end as early as January 2023.

For the fifth time in three years, bringing the Brazilian with the Mexican does not make sense, so one of the other athletes will surely get their chance to climb to the top.

ONE

on

Prime

Video 3

Date and place

: October 21, Kallang (Singapore).

Significant fights

: Renier de Ridder - Shamil Abdulaev (light heavyweight title).

At the end of the month, Russia may acquire another ONE FC champion.

Murat Gafurov, Vitaly Bigdash and Anatoly Malykhin can be joined by Shamil Abdulaev.

At one time, he managed to make some noise in Fight Nights Global and fought well in the WFCA, but spent the last years in the Vladivostok IPFC league.

However, this did not prevent him from signing a contract with the Singaporean organization and immediately getting a chance to fight for the trophy.

True, it will not be easy to win it.

Renier de Ridder has a perfect record of 16 victories and has already managed to cope with many famous opponents.

Among them are the former champion of ONE FC in two divisions Aung La Nsang, and the star of the Kyrgyz mixed martial arts Kimryan Abbasov, and the same Bigdash.

In July, Vitaly managed to hold out for only 209 seconds, after which he surrendered from a rear naked choke.