Of course, it was the last fight in the career of Fedor Emelianenko that elevated the Bellator 290 tournament to the status of one of the most discussed in 2023.

But not only he attracted the attention of many fans around the world, including Russia.

In addition to the legendary fighter, there were many more stars on the card, and the title fight with the participation of Anatoly Tokov stood out against the general background.

The Russian, who had seven victories in a row, was going to argue with Johnny Eblin for the middleweight trophy.

And although the bookmakers gave preference to the American, it seemed premature to write off the Fedor Team representative.

He has excellent skills in the standing position, and on the ground he can give a head start to many.

At first, everything went well for him.

As expected, Tokov looked more interesting in the "strike" and repeatedly found gaps in Eblin's defense.

A cut quickly formed under the American's right eye, promising to give him problems in the later rounds.

He looked more interesting only in clinches, at the exit of which he regularly managed to “insert” his elbows.

But until a certain point, this did not bother the applicant.

Great Tokov worked for most of the second round.

In exchanges, he interrupted Eblin and practically did not allow him to use his wrestling skills.

Everything changed in the last minute, when the Russian missed a heavy right overhand.

The third number of the rating fell to the canvas and was under a hail of blows.

And although he managed to quickly recover and return to a vertical position, he gave the judges a reason to give the segment to the champion.

It was after this episode that the initiative passed to Eblin.

Tokov suddenly became physically addicted, slowed down and began to miss takedowns over and over again.

Only in the third round did the American put the Russian on the canvas three times, and in the end he again planted several powerful hooks in the exchange.

Anatoly's nose was bleeding, and he himself looked tired and lost.

The two remaining five minutes turned out to be a real failure for Tokov.

In total, he missed 11 takedowns, including an amplitude German suplex, and could not oppose Eblin at all.

In such a situation, it was pointless to count on the favor of the judges.

Although two of them still gave Anatoly the first round, while the third saw Johnny's superiority in all five.

The Russian suffered a crushing defeat and could not win the belt in the middle division.

  • Bellator fighters Mukhamed Berkhamov and Lorenz Larkin

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Even more disappointing was the performance of Mukhamed Berkhamov.

Their first fight with Lorenz Larkin was declared invalid: the Russian missed a forbidden blow to the back of the head and could not continue to fight.

But this time, the American managed to rehabilitate himself and demonstrate that he is still one of the most dangerous kickboxers in the welterweight category.

Berkhamov was not bad at the start: he constantly put pressure and interrupted Larkin in his arms.

But instant relaxation at the 101st second crossed out his chances of success.

At the exit from the clinch, he gaped and missed an elbow strike that was incredible in terms of strength and accuracy.

The Russian was in a deaf knockout and collapsed face down into the canvas.

Thus ended his almost ten-year unbeaten streak.

The last time Mukhamed lost to Marif Piraev was in August 2013.

The duel between Akhmed Magomedov and Henry Corrales ended sensationally.

The Russian, who did not know defeat, had ten victories in a row on his track record, was considered a clear favorite and for some time even justified this status.

During the first three minutes, he competently used his advantage in the fight and held back the dangerous boxer.

But suddenly Magomedov began to experience difficulties.

His takedowns stopped happening, while Corrales' low kicks regularly hit the target.

And no matter how Ahmed tried, he could not regain control of the battle.

Henry felt confident and began to "break" the enemy in the stance.

Magomedov failed to put his opponent on the floor even in the final five-minute period, although he made two attempts.

And in the exchanges, Corrales again looked, albeit a little, but better.

And that was enough for the judges to give preference to a local athlete.

Ahmed lost by unanimous decision and could not continue his ascent to the top of the featherweight division.

  • Bellator fighters Steve Mowry and Ali Isaev

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I could not please my fans and Ali Isaev.

The winner of the PFL Grand Prix returned to the cage after a three-year absence and immediately got Steve Mowry in opponents.

During his career, he never lost, although in the last fight he could not prevail.

His fight with Valentin Moldavsky was declared invalid due to a poke in the eye.

Isaev started the fight well, easily laid Mowry on the canvas and spent most of the first round in a dominant position from above, but in the second he survived a real beating.

He lost his balance and gave his back, and Steve began to drive one blow after another into his head.

Several times Ali was on the verge of failure: referee Herb Dean threatened to stop the fight and asked him to actively defend himself, and the American threw a hand triangle twice.

The Russian survived and endured until the gong, but the damage was colossal.

The athlete's face was covered in blood, and the segment was lost with a score of 8:10.

Representatives of Isaev were clearly not ready for such a development of events.

In the course of the duel, a conflict broke out between the cornermen, and the representative of the organizers had to separate the seconds.

Ali himself managed not to succumb to emotions.

He recovered, seized the initiative and spent almost the entire final five minutes on top.

However, this was clearly not enough to win.

All three judges expectedly determined a draw, which is unlikely to satisfy the 39-year-old Russian.

His winning streak ended at the nine-fight mark, and inclusion in the elite heavy category was postponed indefinitely.

As a result, only Diana Avsaragova and Nikita Mikhailov were able to please the Russian fans at the show in Inglewood.

The first in a tense confrontation coped with the former contender for the Bellator title Alejandra Lara, and the second took over Darrion Caldwell.

The Fedor Team fighter underestimated the American's wrestling skills and didn't do well in the first two segments, but in the third he looked much better.

It seemed that he could not get away from the second defeat in a row, but the judges unexpectedly sided with him.

  • Bellator fighters Diana Avsaragova and Alejandra Lara

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