The Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia was home to a solid night of fights. The card saw five (T)KOs, one submission, and five decisions, including one split-decision.
Performances of the Night: Magomed Mustafaev, Sergei Pavlovich
Lightweights Magomed Mustafaev and Rafael Fiziev kicked off the card with a quick bit of violence that started with a spinning back kick that dropped Fiziev. After regaining his feet, Fiziev was met with a sharp low kick, but was able to return one of his own. Within a few moments, though, he met the business end of another one of Mustafaev’s spinning back kicks with his face. Mustafaev followed his toppled opponent to the canvas and commenced smashing Fiziev’s cranium until the ref stepped in to call a halt to the fight. The fight lasted 81 seconds, but the highlight reel will live on for at least a week.
Magomed Mustafaev gets the win and a $50,000 bonus.
Sergei Pavlovich wasted no time dispatching Marcelo Golm to the L Column, ending his night in around 66 seconds. There was no glove touch here, just straight action from the jump with Pavlovich landing hooks, straights, and more hooks as he pummeled Golm against the cage. Golm goes down, the ref jumps in, and that’s all she wrote.
Sergei Pavlovich gets the win and a $50,000 bonus
Fight of the Night: Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan put on a pretty intense grappling battle that saw Tsarukyan never really out of the fight, but clearly losing two of the rounds to Makhachev by my personal scoring. The scrambles were impressive and Tsarukyan’s ability to escape danger on several occasions made the contest even more interesting. There were plenty of kicks peppered throughout the fight, but Makhachev’s takedowns were the gamechanger and ultimately got him the W.
Islam Makhachev gets the win and both men take home $50,000 bonuses
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