Goncharov's triumph, Borisov's defense and a master class from Kokov: what was memorable about the ACA 154 tournament

ACA 154 promised to be one of the brightest events of recent years in domestic MMA. Matchmakers did a great job and did everything to make the card literally break from the most important fights. It is enough that three title fights were organized in Krasnodar. Moreover, in two categories at once, the current champions had to fight with the former ones. In the heavyweight division, Alikhan Vakhayev had to meet with Evgeny Goncharov, and in the bantamweight - Oleg Borisov with the unbeaten Ruslan Kerimov, who left the belt in 2020 in the hope of moving to the UFC. Finally, Muhamed Kokov and Hakran Diaz played for the interim lightweight title. The organizers decided to bring them together, since the strongest fighter of this category Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov has already declared for participation in the Grand Prix.

As for the Grand Prix itself, 14 athletes had to compete for tickets to the semifinals at once. A particularly interesting situation developed at the weights, where two people had to pass further. In addition to the fight between Vakhaev and Goncharov, a duel between Salimgerey Rasulov and Kirill Kornilov was to take place. But the meeting of Mukhumat Vakhayev and Francimar Barroso broke down literally at the last moment due to the heart problems identified in the Brazilian. The Russian will soon get a new opponent.

The main card was opened by Cokov's duel with another Brazilian Diaz. Hackran was a rather dangerous athlete, because he managed to spend several years in the UFC, although there he had a negative record (3 - 5). Fans were waiting for the classic battle of the wrestlers, as both won most of the victories by surrender (11 out of 19 - for the Russian and 14 of 27 - for the Latin American).

The more surprising was the desire of athletes to spend the first rounds in the rack. They exchanged quite strong blows, but it was felt that the knockout power of the lightweights was not enough. A little better in the punch was Mohamed, who regularly brought powerful right sidebars to the jaw of his counterpart. But he showed excellent endurance and at the end of the opening five minutes in addition made the first takedown.

However, the domestic athlete worked clearly according to plan and gradually saged the functional readiness of the opponent by hitting the body. He regularly held deuces with a hard finish on the liver, which Diaz could not help but feel. At the same time, the native of Baksan surprisingly did not hurry with the struggle and even allowed the Brazilian to conduct another takedown.

But starting from the third round, he completely controlled the course of the fight and practically did not allow the guest to rise to his feet. He dominated the stalls and tried to slash Hakran with his elbows at the first opportunity. To the credit of the tired veteran, he tried to save the situation and even wanted to conduct painful techniques on the heel and elbow, but the attempts were not crowned with success. Thus, the judges naturally gave the unanimous victory and the title of interim ACA champion to the Russian.

The bantamweight championship bout also came to a decision. However, the final verdict left big questions. Everyone expected kerimov and Borisov to have an equal fight, but Rustam played it tactically competently and had the advantage.

The debut was completely left to him. The reigning title holder fell into a tight hook and could not escape from the grasping embrace for a long time. The challenger did not waste time in vain and treated the opponent's hips with powerful knee strikes, which were designed to seriously slow him down. Only a minute before the break, the native of Kostroma with great difficulty rose to his feet.

But in the future, he did not succeed much. Kerimov enjoyed an advantage in the height and length of his limbs and did not let Borisov into the near distance. As soon as he tried to get closer, the athlete drove him away with his legs. It worked well with the front hand as well. Finally, when absolutely necessary, Rustam tied up his counterpart in the struggle. Oleg, it seemed, did not understand what to do, since it was not possible to use his crowning knockout blows.

The only truly dangerous moment the champion missed in the third round. Then he still managed to convey to the jaw of the opponent the right side. Kerimov was shaken, but he managed to run back and avoided finishing. In the fourth five minutes, Borisov hit well with the left, but with less effect. In the final round, he was obliged to go forward, but failed to create real problems for the challenger.

After the final gong, almost no one doubted his victory. The athlete himself began to celebrate and received congratulations from the team. The judges' estimates were all the more unexpected. The majority gave the victory to Kostromich. There was a feeling that the 38-year-old veteran himself was surprised by this outcome. Nevertheless, he retained the belt and took revenge from his opponent. Kerimov suffered his career debut defeat and missed an opportunity to regain the ACA title.

It seemed that the fight between Vakhaev and Goncharov should definitely not go the whole distance. Two knockouts had chances to end it early at any time. However, in this case, the judges had to determine the strongest. And this time, their solution did not cause any questions from anyone.

It was the challenger who fought from the first minutes. Although it was 15 cm lower, it had a serious advantage in speed. The native of the Rostov region constantly moved on his feet and brought blows to the opponent. In the debut, he was completely shocked by the series, but it was not possible to develop success. In turn, the champion only tried to drive away his counterpart with his legs.

However, in the second round, he had an excellent and only opportunity to record a victory for himself. Goncharov once again jumped out and missed the left straight towards him. The hit was not critical, but Evgeny lost his balance and instantly found himself under his opponent. Vakhayev pinned him to the deck and began to strike from above. However, the contender competently covered his head with his hands, and then completely escaped and went to the guard himself. However, he did not manage to extract anything from this situation.

In the remaining three minutes, Goncharov calmly interrupted his opponent. So, by the middle of the fight, his advantage in this indicator was two times (60 against 30), and by the end of the penultimate round - almost three times (90 to 31). Vakhayev left the forces and he practically did not move from his place. Only in the final period, Alikhan made a desperate attempt to hold a takedown, but here he did not succeed.

In this confrontation, the judges had no choice but to take the side of the challenger, who regained the ACA belt three years later. However, one of the referees still gave the victory to the champion. Goncharov, having heard the grades, let out a formidable roar and rushed into the arms of the friend of the former world boxing champion Dmitry Kudryashov. He also expressed his readiness to meet with Kirill Kornilov.

The latter defeated Salimgerey Rasulov and reached the semifinals of the Grand Prix of heavyweights. In the light heavyweight category, Leonardo Silva unexpectedly turned out to be stronger than Murat Gugov. Albert Tumenov, who has considerable experience in the UFC, won the fourth victory in a row in the ACA over Altynbek Mamashov and made his way to the top four in the welterweight division. Finally, Alexey Polpudnikov completed the meeting with Abdul-Rakhman Dudayev ahead of schedule and became a participant in the semifinals of the Grand Prix in the featherweight division.