ABU DHABI: In a night of 14 high-level jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts matches, America's Urijah Faber and Brazil's Rayron Gracie emerged as champions of the Abu Dhabi Championship. The fifth Extreme Championship (ADXC) on Friday at Mubadala Stadium. Faber won the no-gi trophy, and Gracie went home with the gi.
Faber showed his power when he defeated Bibiano Fernandes of Brazil almost 20 years after their first meeting in MMA.
Touching his wrestling armor to block Fernandes' attacks, Faber worked better from the top as his opponent pressed the guard. The Brazilian had a good time as he managed to land a few sweeps, but Faber's skill won out.
In the end, the American fighter won the ADXC home via unanimous decision. After the fight, Faber emphasized his respect for his rival and praised the event in Abu Dhabi.
“I like Fernandes. This man changed the lives of many athletes during his lifetime, and what he did was also very difficult,” said Faber. “It felt good to fight in the cage again. If you are looking for something to change your life, look into martial arts. Abu Dhabi is doing the right thing by investing in something like jiu-jitsu.”
In his first fight, Gracie didn't give Marcos Carrozzino a chance and picked up his second straight win in the ADXC, again by submission.
Gracie defended her opponent's attacks well. After a takedown attempt by Carrozzino, Gracie locked in an unusual choke, forcing his opponent to tap out. Afterwards, Gracie paid tribute to her uncle, the famous boxing artist Renzo Gracie, who was in the corner of the fight.
“I know that everything is going well when my uncle is by my side,” Gracie said. “My first choke was locked in there, but Carrozzino escaped well. The guillotine he applied to me was very hard, but I knew he would put everything inside, so I managed to defend myself and recover. Five minutes before the fight my uncle told me it was about 40 seconds before the end of the round.
In the second main event, American Chad Mendes defeated Brazilian Diego Brandão by unanimous decision. Mendes dominated throughout the fight, controlling his opponent's head in the standing fight, applying good takedowns, and defending well.
The other main event was a technical and balanced battle with Portugal's Pedro Ramalho narrowly defeating Sweden's Max Lindblad via split decision for the championship. With similar fighting styles, the contestants exchanged blows and attacks while defending dangerous positions. Ramalho excelled with good sweeps and was especially dangerous on the feet. Lindblad's highlight moment was the leg lock attempt that put him on top. In the end, however, Ramalho's consistency was rewarded.
In addition to the four major fights, 10 other fights improved the ADXC 5. In the opening match, Balqees Al-Hashmi of the United Arab Emirates defeated Maria Odintsova of Russia. Al Hashmi made full use of his guard, maintaining control throughout, executing promising attacks and using his positional control to keep his opponent under pressure. Al-Hashmi won by unanimous decision.
Another Emirati fighter also won on home soil. Omar Al-Suwaidi defeated Samuel Marquez by unanimous decision in a fight where Al-Suwaidi dominated by maintaining a high tempo.
Another display of strength and technique by Iranian fighter Pouya Rahmani at the ADXC home saw him kill Hamdy Abdelwahab's single leg and take his back, arm outstretched to the crowd before he drops them under Abdelwahab's neck and gets a choke win. to hold.
Davi Vetoraci from Brazil defeated the Tunisian fighter Amin Boudhina. Vetoraci attacked from the start with a dangerous flying triangle, then moved to an armbar attempt, which Boudhina defended. Later, Vetoraci faked a shoulder lock. As the Tunisian fighter spun to escape, Vetoraci locked in a winning armbar.
Kazakhstan's 19-year-old Seilkhan Bolatbek scored a quick victory over Emad Ahmedin of the Netherlands and American fighter Abe “The Killer” Alsaghir defeated Chinese fighter Xiaosong Shi in a tight match where Alsaghir used the cage. for his benefit. Shi had some great moments, including a well-executed guillotine attempt in the second round, but Alsaghir kept the pressure on to emerge victorious by unanimous decision.
