One of the most dominant performances of Khabib's undefeated brother's career.
The American Bellator League continues the practice of tournaments according to the rules of the playoffs in different weight categories. At the end of 2022, our Vadim Nemkov became the winner of the light heavyweight Grand Prix — then Scott Cocker's organization launched a Grand Prix in the light division with the participation of two representatives of Russia at once. At stake, according to the classics, are one million dollars and the status of the best lightweight of the prestigious MMA promotion.
Quarter-final pairs strong> (champion) – Benson Henderson;
Following the results of the 292nd Bellator tournament, we learned the names of the first two semi-finalists. And how cool that both victors are Russians!
In San Jose (USA), all the attention was riveted to undefeated Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov in his first title defense. His opponent is a veteran, former UFC belt holder Benson Henderson, who is 15 years older than our athlete.
In the end, youth took precedence over experience. And it looked perfect: in the opening of the fight, Usman hit Henderson with a high kick exactly in the jaw and knocked down the opponent. The rest is a matter of technique. The Dagestani sat down with a backpack on Ben, began to beat the challenger, but ended the fight not with a knockout, but with a submission. Putting his hand under the chin of a lying opponent, Nurmagomedov nevertheless caught the legend in a choke.
I had to knock.
Henderson, after a depressing fight, announced his retirement from the sport and, to the applause of the fans, put his gloves on the canvas. And here's what you can say about Usman, who immediately after the fight ended up in the company of UFC champion Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov and coach Javier Mendes:
- 17 victories in 17 fights;
- keep the championship belt around his waist without any problems, once again launching a wave of reasoning about the lack of proper competition;
- is now two wins/defenses from a Grand Prix triumph and one million.
Who will the 24 year old fighter declassify next? We will find out in May, when there will be a meeting between Brent Primus from the USA and Frenchman Mansour Barnaoui.
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"I would like to first of all express my gratitude to Benson Henderson. This is a living legend of our sport. We, young fighters, tried to look up to him, good luck to him in the future … A dangerous opponent, he should never be underestimated. I tried to focus, there was no need to rush. I was ready for everything for 25 minutes.»
Usman NurmagomedovBellator Lightweight Champion
Also in the tournament:
- Another semi-finalist for the already mentioned Grand Prix is Alexandre Chablis. A fighter from Don with a kick apparently broke the rib of Azerbaijani Tofik Musaev (referees recorded a technical knockout in the third round) and won the loudest victory of his career;
- Valentin Moldavian defeated Linton Vassell four years ago. However, in the rematch, the student of Fedor Emelianenko was knocked out in the first round and lost to the Englishman the status of No. 1 contender in the heavyweight division; Tony Johnson of the United States by unanimous decision and won his 17th professional MMA victory (with three losses).