Successful defense of Nurmagomedov, a strange knockout of Shablia, a crushing defeat of Moldavsky: what Bellator 292 will remember

For three Russian fighters at once, the performance at Bellator 292 was of key importance in the context of their title prospects.

Usman Nurmagomedov defended his lightweight belt for the first time in a duel with Benson Henderson, and Alexander Shabliy was about to take the upper hand over Tofik Musaev and take the first step both towards winning this title and a triumph in the Grand Prix.

In turn, Valentin Moldavsky was preparing to crush Linton Vassell for the second time and once again earn the right to fight Ryan Bader.

And thus, not only bring the trophy to Russia, but also avenge his mentor Fedor Emelianenko.

Against their background, Khalid Murtazaliev stood apart, only approaching the top ten of the strongest representatives of the category up to 84 kilograms.

If he had not lost to Anthony Adams in September 2021, his place in the rankings would not have been in doubt, but that failure seriously complicated his prospects.

And although he subsequently crushed compatriot Khadzhimurat Bestaev and closed the defeat, it was necessary to consolidate the result.

And this was to be done in a duel with Tony Johnson, a veteran of mixed martial arts, whose career started back in 2007.

True, it turned out not the most outstanding.

For 16 years, he only entered the cage 12 times and lost three times, and far from the stars.

The most notorious of his offenders is Dalton Rosta, currently ranked fifth on the Bellator top middleweight list.

As such, there was no struggle in this battle.

In each round, Johnson had approximately two minutes to showcase his boxing skills.

But he never managed to do this.

In the first half of the segments, he unsuccessfully tried to get closer to his opponent, and the second he spent either lying on his back on the canvas, or pressed against the net in the clinch.

Khalid dominated grappling, and Tony could not oppose him.

In total, Murtazaliev spent eight and a half minutes on top in the stalls, and at the very end of the fight he was even close to an early victory.

He threw on a hand triangle, but the American held his ground and did not knock.

But this did not save him from defeat.

All three judges unanimously gave preference to the Russian.

As part of the main program of the show, the first of the Russians to pass the test was Moldavsky, who, quite unexpectedly, was not called the clear favorite of the confrontation.

And this despite the fact that four years ago he already got the better of Vassell, who at that time was in the best physical condition.

Nevertheless, at the time of revenge, the Briton was already 39 years old, and at this age it is extremely difficult to remain competitive even for heavyweights - the main long-livers in the MMA world.

On the other hand, Vassell's recent results cast doubt on whether his best years were behind him.

After all, he went on a series of four victories, and three of them were early.

Only Tyrell Fortune managed to hold out all the scheduled rounds, while Sergey Kharitonov, Ronnie Marquez and Timothy Johnson were knocked out no later than the second round.

And at first there was an impression that Moldavsky would confidently cope with Vassell.

The Fedor Team fighter immediately made two passes to the legs and almost made his way to the side control position, but an experienced fighter from the UK found a way out of a difficult situation.

Everything seemed to be going according to Valentine's plan.

But instead of continuing to put pressure on Linton and force him to spend his strength in the fight, for some reason he decided to practice standing.

And he immediately exposed his weaknesses: the lack of speed and the lack of first-class shock equipment.

Literally in the very first serious exchange, the Russian made a gross mistake - he remained at a distance convenient for the opponent and missed a crushing right hook.

The Russian collapsed onto the canvas and found himself under a flurry of attacks from the British.

And in this state, he was unable to defend himself.

During the execution, a cap flew out of Moldavsky's mouth, and referee Jason Herzog recorded his defeat by knockout - the first in his career.

Wassell proved that in his case, age is just a number, and earned the title of first contender for the heavyweight title.

Unlike Moldavsky, Shabliy did not underestimate the striking power of his opponent.

In July 2022, Tofik Musaev demonstrated it in all its glory, having laid down the first number of the Sidney Outlaw rating at that time in his debut fight in Bellator.

And Alexander was not going to give him the opportunity to issue another bright early victory.

He spent the first minutes at a respectful distance and preferred not to rush forward, but to catch his opponents on counterattacks.

And he managed to make the Azerbaijani feel out of place.

For the starting segment, he was not marked by anything memorable, and in the end he also missed a couple of weighty attacks.

After the break, the ex-champion of RIZIN FF went ahead and began to crush the opponent even more, but this did not bring dividends.

Shabliy moved well and took advantage of Musaev's every oversight.

Already in the middle of the round, he again caught the opponent in the oncoming movement and made him remember his wrestling skills for the first time.

But the translation attempt was unsuccessful.

Subsequently, Tofik began to rush into reckless attacks more and more often and fail, while Alexander finally took the initiative into his own hands.

But hardly anyone could have predicted that the fight would end at the 29th second of the third round, and in such a strange way.

Shabliy delivered a not-so-accentuated direct kick to the body, after which his leg slipped into the opponent's groin area.

Musaev considered this action forbidden and expected to get five minutes to recover, but the referee judged otherwise.

He did not notice the violation of the rules by the Russian and demanded the Azerbaijani to continue the fight.

However, he did not intend to do so.

The arbitrator twice tried to reach him through a team representative who spoke English, but Tofik made it clear that he was not ready to fight.

And then Herzog stopped the duel.

“Tofik is a very strong guy.

Immeasurable, great respect for him.

He deserves only applause.

Whether you like it or not, I will become a champion.

I will reach the final, I will take this belt and a check for a million dollars, ”Shabliy promised.

True, it will be extremely difficult to implement the conceived Shablia.

After all, at the next stage of the championship, he will have to measure his strength with the triumphant duel between AJ Mackey and Patricky Freire.

The first is a former featherweight champion and ranks fourth in the organization's consolidated ranking, and the second most recently owned a 70.3 kilogram trophy.

“There are no weak opponents in this Grand Prix.

If I had the opportunity, I would give each of its participants a million dollars.

They deserve it.

Some of the strongest lightweights are here.

But there must be only one winner.

AJ McKee or Pitbull (will be my future opponents) - there is no difference.

Together, let them go out, ”Shabliy added.

Nurmagomedov confidently won a ticket to the semi-finals of the championship, along the way for the first time defending the belt in 70 kilograms.

Despite the colossal experience and status of the former WEC and UFC champion, almost no one believed in Henderson.

Bookmakers overwhelmingly preferred Usman, and the odds for Benson's success were 8.5.

And it was predictable.

The 39-year-old American was at the final stage of his great career and understood this very well.

On the eve of the show, he made no secret of his intention to hang up his gloves in the very near future.

As a result, Henderson lasted just over two and a half minutes, and spent most of them with Nurmagomedov on his back.

Already in the 82nd second, he missed a kick to the head, fell to the ground and allowed the champion to gain a foothold in a dominant position.

And although for some time he managed to avoid the suffocating one, Usman nevertheless achieved his goal and secured the lock on the neck of his counterpart.

Tom had only to knock.

“This is a very dangerous opponent.

He should never be underestimated.

He was focused, not going to rush things.

Going into this fight, he was very cold-blooded.

I wasn't going to be in a hurry.

I was ready for all 25 minutes ... I would like to express my gratitude to Benson Henderson.

This is a living legend of this sport.

All of us, young guys, tried to be equal to such fighters.

I wish him all the best on his future journey, ”Nurmagomedov addressed his counterpart, who announced the end of his professional career at the end of the fight.

Nurmagomedov won the biggest win of his career and extended his unbeaten streak to 17 fights.

The name of his next opponent will be known in early May, when Mansour Barnawi and Brent Primus will fight for the semi-finals of the Grand Prix.