Nurmagomedov's second defense and Freimanov's campaign for the title: the main events of October in MMA excluding UFC 294

Highlights: Nurmagomedov's second defense and Freimanov's campaign for the title: the main events of October in MMA excluding UFC 294. Usman NurMagomedov will fight Brent Primus for the lightweight title, the winner of which will advance to the semifinals of the Bellator Grand Prix. The reigning ACA champion in the 70.3 kg category, Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov, will face off against Mukhamed Kokov. Ilya Freimanova will compete for the interim ONE FC trophy with Tang Li. Mukhaming Berkhamov will try to rehabilitate himself for the defeat of Lorenz Larkin in the fight with Herman Terrado. Irina Alekseeva will fight with Melissa Dixon.

Usman Nurmagomedov will fight Brent Primus for the lightweight title, the winner of which will advance to the semifinals of the Bellator Grand Prix. The reigning ACA champion in the 70.3 kg category, Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov, will face off against Mukhamed Kokov, while Ilya Freimanov will compete for the interim ONE FC trophy with Tang Li. Mukhamed Berkhamov will try to rehabilitate himself for the defeat of Lorenz Larkin in the fight with Herman Terrado, and Irina Alekseeva will fight with Melissa Dixon.

ACA 164

Date and place: October 4, Grozny (Russia).

Significant fights: Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov (h) vs. Mukhamed Kokov (lightweight title).

The ACA continues to determine the participants in the semi-finals of the Grand Prix in various divisions. In the lightweight, the holders of the absolute and interim titles Abdul-Aziz Abdulvahabov and Mukhamed Kokov, originally scheduled for September 2, will fight for a ticket to the next round. For the champion, this fight will be the first in almost two years. The last time he entered the cage was in November 2021, when he broke the resistance of Hakran Diaz in a close fight, but then took a long break. At this time, his possible transfer to the PFL was actively discussed, and the American promotion even made an appointment for him with Ahmed Amir, but it never took place.

Kokov, on the other hand, is in great shape - he is on a series of three victories, and in the last battle he was stronger than the same Diaz. And he did it more confidently than Abdulvakhabov. Therefore, initially it is not worth writing it down as an outsider. Yes, he is inferior in striking technique, but due to his wrestling skills, he is able to impose a fight.

ONE Fight Night 15

Date and place: October 7, Bangkok (Thailand).

Significant fights: Ilya Freimanov vs. Tang Li (interim lightweight title), Timofey Nastyukhin vs. Zhang Lipeng, Mansur Malachiev vs. Joshua Pasio.

An unusually large number of Russian fighters will perform at the October ONE FC tournament. And one of them will even compete for a trophy, albeit a temporary one. Ilya Freimanov will fight with the former holder of the lightweight belt Tan Li, and if he wins, he will have the opportunity to face off with the current champion Tang Kai. Yes, in terms of experience, the Russian is noticeably inferior to the former participant of The Ultimate Fighter show, but in this particular case it can play against him. With age, it becomes extremely difficult for representatives of the lightest categories to maintain the level and it is far from a fact that the 38-year-old American will be able to keep up with a much younger counterpart.

Unlike Freimanov, who is on a series of five early victories, Timofey Nastyukhin is not going through the best stage in his career. In the last three fights, he lost by knockout, and his triumph in the battle with Eddie Alvarez has so far remained the main achievement. He will try to correct his position in the battle with Zhang Lipeng - after losing to Saygid Izagakhmayev, the Chinese did not fight for more than a year.

In turn, Mansur Malachiev will try to extend the successful series in ONE FC. The former Eagle FC champion made his league debut in June and immediately "strangled" the strong Jeremy Miado. Now he is waiting for a much more difficult test. Joshua Pasio won the flyweight title twice and made three defenses until he was beaten by Jarred Brooks.

Bellator 300

Date and place: October 7, San Diego (USA).

Significant fights: Usman Nurmagomedov (h) vs. Brent Primus (lightweight title), Chris Cyborg (w) vs. Kat Zingano (featherweight title), Liz Carmouche (h) vs. Ilima-Lei McFarlane (flyweight title), Mohamed Berkhamov vs. Herman Terrado.

Against the backdrop of the grandiose UFC 294, the anniversary Bellator tournament does not look too impressive. On the one hand, it will be decorated with three title fights at once, on the other hand, only a couple of them can be called truly box office. Of course, some audience will be attracted by the battles for the belts in the women's divisions, but the attention of a large number of fans will be attracted by the long-awaited return of Chris Cyborg. The last time she fought in Bellator was in April 2022, after which she had two fights according to the rules of boxing. Scott Coker also understands this, which is why he puts the fight with the participation of the Brazilian second from the end.

Much more curious is that the show will be closed by a battle between Usman Nurmagomedov and Brent Primus. Yes, in addition to the trophy, the Russian and the American will compete for a ticket to the Grand Prix final, but this is unlikely to be a key factor. Rather, it speaks of the status of Khabib's cousin, who can already be called one of the main stars of the league.

And the confrontation with Primus looks extremely intriguing. The American is a former champion who previously defeated Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson. And two defeats in the last six fights should not be embarrassing. Without a chance, he lost only to Alexander Shabliy, another favorite of the Grand Prix, while the duel with Islam Mammadov was extremely equal.

In addition, Brent is very strong in wrestling and rightfully owns a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Consequently, it can be extremely difficult for Nurmagomedov in the stalls. Almost any wrong decision can lead to the fact that he will be enclosed in a painful or suffocating hold.

In addition to Usman, Mukhamed Berkhamov will perform at the anniversary tournament. In February, he suffered a crushing defeat from Lorenz Larkin and will try to rehabilitate himself for him. The opponent is worthy, but more than passable and well known to Russian fans. In 2018, he first lost by knockout to Magomed Magomedkerimov, and then by unanimous decision to Jake Shields. True, after that I never entered the cage.

Contender Series: Week 10

Date and place: October 10, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights: Yuri Panferov vs. Torrez Finney.

Another Russian fighter will try to break into the UFC through Dana White's contender series. Yuri Panferov has never fought in his homeland during his professional career. In 2021, he made his debut at CES MMA, and then "lit up" in a couple of regional American organizations. And during this time he won six victories, and only ahead of schedule.

His opponent can boast of a similar record. However, once Torrez Finney still had to spend all 15 minutes in the cage. In April, he worked all three rounds with Caleb Crump, who now has an extremely unimpressive record (5-5-1). It is not because of this that the American should not be underestimated. He has knockout power and can be a serious test for Panferov, who performs under the nickname Russian Polar Bear.

UFC Fight Night 230

Date and place: October 14, Las Vegas (USA).

Significant fights: Irina Alekseeva vs. Melissa Dixon.

In October, the representative of the bantamweight division will have her second fight in the UFC. Irina Alekseeva's performance in the battle with Stephanie Egger left a double impression. On the one hand, Russian Ronda broke her opponent's resistance in just 131 seconds, catching her on the knee lever. On the other hand, she failed the weigh-in, which could disappoint the organizers a little.

Perhaps it is this circumstance that determines the choice of her next counterpart. For Melissa Dixon, this fight will be her debut in the championship, therefore, a victory over her is unlikely to allow Alekseeva to seriously advance in the ranking. After all, it was not yet possible to assess the real level of the British.

Previously, she performed well in the English league Golden Ticket Fight Promotions and the French Ares, but during this time she met with only one worthy opponent - also a Russian. On the eve of that duel, Daria Zheleznyakova was on a series of eight victories in a row, but lost by knockout a second before the end of the first round.