At the M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson show, Aleksander Yakovlev defeated Juan Manuel Suarez via ground and pound stoppage in the second round. Yakovlev moves his official record up to 13-3, while Juanma Suarez suffers the first loss of his career, falling to 8-1.
The two men started by feeling each other out standing, but when Juanma caught Yakovlev with a punch, it was the Russian who quickly shot for the takedown. Juanma threatened with a guillotine during that takedown, but Yakovlev slammed him. From there, the majority of the first round was spent on the ground with Yakovlev in Juanma’s guard using ground and pound. For his part, Suarez used a very active guard, attempting a number of submission and sweep attempts. Late in round 1, Suarez rolled for an armbar and Yakovlev did a nice job in the scramble, adjusting into a head and arm choke that Suarez successfully defended to end the round.
Round 2 started much the same, with Yakovlev scoring the takedown and Suarez grabbing the guard. Juanma seemed a bit more tired though, and stalled out for a referee stand-up. Eventually Yakovlev got into a nice position to the side and began throwing a number of nasty elbows to the side of his opponent. Juanma was clearly hurt by these, allowing Yakovlev to pass guard, take mount, and rain down the punches until referee Yuji Shimada stepped in and waved the fight off.
A bit of question about the ending, as Yakovlev was using 12-6 elbows to the body, prompting Jeremy Horn in the commentary booth to question if they were legal. Shimada did not caution Yakovlev, or indicate that they were not allowed, so it is entirely possible they were legal under tonight’s rules.
Good showing overall by Yakovlev, with nice takedowns and steadily increasing pressure from the ground and pound.
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