The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night tournament has ended in Abu Dhabi, in the main event of which Russian Umar Nurmagomedov managed to get the better of American Cory Sandhagen and came close to a title chance. Sports sums up the results of a cool event, in which five domestic fighters took part at once, four of whom arrived in the UAE undefeated.
A Step Towards New Gold for the NurmagomedovsThe talented Umar Nurmagomedov is confidently following in the footsteps of his cousin Khabib: he burst into the UFC with a perfect record, won five victories and entered the top 10 of the bantamweight category. The noise around the Russian was so great that he, who was closing out the top ten, was given the number two spot in Cory Sandhagen's rating. The first fight fell through due to Umar's injury, but today they were still locked in the octagon to determine the new number one contender.
As the head of the promotion Dana White claimed, the winner of this confrontation will definitely get a «title fight».
For the fourth time, Sandhagen is one win away from a championship fight. There was a daze from Aljamain Sterling, tough encounters with TJ Dillashaw and Petr Yan… Today, the management gave Corey a new opportunity to get a fight for the belt. The condition: to beat his brother Khabib with high-class wrestling and the Eagle himself in the corner of the cornerman.
However, there was not much ground fighting — the main event participants mainly worked in the stand-up position, and here the experts were put to shame. Nurmagomedov turned out to be no worse than the American: Corey defended himself well from translations, but in the stand-up position he was unable to find the right approach to an opponent with smaller dimensions. And if the first three rounds could still be called equal, then in the last two, the championship rounds, Sandhagen noticeably gave in, giving way to the undefeated prospect.
Judges' verdict: 50-45, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of the MMA fighter from Russia.
Now Umar is waiting for the winner of the championship fight between Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili, and Corey is again flying away from Abu Dhabi with nothing. Let us recall that in the fall of 2021, the US representative fought for the interim belt with Yan in the UAE.
A pirate sails after a gangsterThe Emirates gave no less warm a welcome to Sharabutdin Magomedov, known as Shara Bullet. The Russian with an unusual appearance and the self-explanatory nickname Pirate knows no defeats, and turns every fight into a real show. He has already fought twice in the UFC and both times delighted the Eastern public.
On Saturday, the fighter returned to the Etihad Arena, where he made his debut in the promotion in October 2023. His opponent is Pole Michal Oleksiejczuk, who seemed like a cakewalk for Shara. However, we praise the underdog: he held out and did not lose early. Oleksiejczuk was completely unable to neutralize the favorite in the fight, and in the stand-up, everything was even worse. Before the first break, the Russian's elbow «chopped» the Pole on the head, so that for the rest of the fight Michal continued to move forward with a bloody left eye. The pirate, acting as number two, confidently outscored Oleksiejczuk in the clinch and at a distance.
The hype is growing — 14 wins in 14 fights, 3-0 in the UFC. But the new star of the organization wants more and challenges the famous Nick Diaz.
El Cucuy is not saying goodbye yetTony Ferguson. A legend of mixed martial arts, who gave us more than one amazing fight in which American opponents left the octagon covered in blood. But that was a few years ago. Since 2020, El Cucuy has suffered seven defeats in a row (four of which were early), lost his former aura of «the main threat to Khabib» and — let's say it without embellishment — turned into a gray-haired old man.
Today, 40-year-old Ferguson could have gotten even with his compatriot Michael Chiesa (he has a three-fight black streak) for the terrible years and finally put an end to the big adventure. However, the nightmare continued: after a little work in the stand-up, Maverick easily took Tony to the ground and took his neck. El Cucuy endured, but still knocked him down as a sign of surrender. What is this if not the end? However, you still have to look for such stubborn people. The American took off his gloves, but left only one in the center of the octagon, hinting at his reluctance to part with the UFC.
We believe that the family with whom the MMA veteran wants to talk will bring the fighter, who does not want to leave, to his senses.
What else happened at the Etihad Arena
- Victoria Dudakova spent the toughest 15 minutes in the octagon. The beauty from Volgograd took the first round from American Sam Hughes, gave up the second, and the third five minutes were close. However, only one judge gave the victory to the Russian — unfortunately, Dudakova was unable to maintain her perfect record. Her record is now 8-1.
- But Azamat Murzakanov still has zero in the «defeat» column. The light heavyweight from Nalchik spent the entire first round tearing apart the defense of American Alonzo Menifield and even cut his opponent, after which he scored a brutal knockout in the second round. The professional (14 wins, ten victories — KO/TKO) is approaching the top ten of the rating and asks for two things: to give him an opponent from the top 5 and not to put him in the prelims anymore.
- Not long before this, the heavyweight from Dagestan, representing Bahrain, Shamil Gaziev, won by decision of the judges against Don'Tale Mayes (USA) and closed the first defeat in his career from Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
- The first fight of the evening upset Russian MMA fans: Denis Tyululin failed to defeat Cedric Dumas from the USA and suffered his fourth defeat in a row. It is highly likely that this was the Russian's last appearance in the world's main MMA promotion.
- Interesting things are happening in Umar's division. Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo moved up in weight and is still undefeated. Following Rob Font and Cody Garbrandt, the God of War beat former challenger Marlon Vera. The Brazilian knocked out the Ecuadorian's body in 15 minutes, knocked Chito down and eventually broke into the top 5.
- Guram Kutateladze raised his hand above the cage for the first time since 2020 and returned to the winning path after two losses. The Georgian, not without difficulty, defeated the Briton Jordan Vucenic by unanimous decision.
- Experienced American Mackenzie Dern was better than Lupita Godinez (Mexico), breaking her two-fight losing streak.
BONUSES
Fight of the Night: Magomedov vs. Oleksiychuk.
Performance of the Night: Yoel Alvarez and Azamat Murzakanov.