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| Photos Courtesy Of Cage Warriors Dolly Crew |
European premier promotion Cage Warriors Fighting Championship hosted its first event in Chechnya, a nation that has produced a number of Europe’s top fighters, including Mamed Khalidov and many more. This show marked an important moment for Cage Warriors, as this show marks the beginning of an expansion into former Soviet states for the promotion, which includes an event in Dagestan before years end.
On the first fight of the main card, SBG Manchester’s Matt Inman faced the very talented Bagautdin Sharaputdinov, and after an even first round Sharapudinov seemed to fade going into the second. Inman is notorious for his heart and determination, and in the second this came into play. After being in a compromising position, Inman got a reversal and managed to finish his foe via TKO. After an up and down career to date, Inman has racked off 3 wins in a row, and I hope Cage Warriors matchmaker Ian Dean matches Inman with Paul Redmond next time out.
Next up, former title contender Pavel Kusch faced Chris Scott in the middleweight division. This was Kusch’s first Cage Warriors appearance since being beaten for the belt by Chris Fields at Cage Warriors Fight Night 7. After his fight against Fields, Kusch went through a rough patch and was knocked out in his next bout, but on Saturday the old Kusch was back, and he showed why he is probably the most feared submission artist on the EU circuit. From the get go Kusch was eager to take Scott to the ground, and after getting his back taken by Scott, he managed to wind up in guard and lock in a deep heel hook, which forced Scott to submit.
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| Photos courtesy of Cage Warriors Dolly Crew |
Slovakian sensation Ivan Buchinger faced local boy Jamal Magomedov in the lightweight division next. In the first round Buchinger was notably less aggressive than he usually is, and Magomedov used this to his advantage in the stand up and initiated a clinch against the cage, but he was penalised a point for constantly grabbing the cage and not heeding the referee’s warnings. It was more of the same in the second round for Magomedov, as he dominated the grappling exchanges and dropped Buchinger late in the round. Going into the third round, Buchinger needed to make something happen, and that he did. After it seemed that it wasn’t his night, Buchinger was taken down again in the third round, but “Buki’s” killer instincts came into play, and he locked in a late triangle choke which left Magomedov with no option but to tap.
In the middleweight division, Azerbaijani ground and pound artist Bakhtiyar Abbasov faced Brazilian submission sensation Charles Andrade in a Wrestling vs. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu matchup. The first round was very entertaining, as the muscular Abbasov came close with a deep guillotine, but Andrade’s forte is BJJ, and he managed to stay safe riding out the submission before having his own moments of success in the round. Going into the second, I had Abbasov slightly ahead in the scoring. After a tentative period in the second round, Abbasov dropped Andrade with a powerful left hook and followed him to the ground, but Abbasov failed to have a plan to finish Andrade on the ground, and seemed happy to rack up the points rather than look to advance his position. The third round was very anti-climatic, as Abbasov continued with his game plan of not engaging once the fight hit the ground. This led to a fatigued Andrade trying to will his opponent into his guard, and after a lackluster final two rounds, Abbasov was awarded the victory via decision.
In the bantamweight division, the Cage Warriors Fighter of the Year in 2012, James Brum, faced Ruslan Abiltarov, who had already fought 9 times in 2013, and was looking to make it 10-0 for the year in this bout with potential title ramifications. In the opening round, the Top 5 European fighter James Brum showed just why he’s so highly rated, and dominated Abiltarov, securing a first round choke to bring Brum to 6-0 in Cage Warriors. Expect Brum to face the winner of the Cage Warriors Bantamweight Tournament in the coming months for the belt.
The co-main event featured two heavyweights, as the Polish fighter Michal Andryszak faced the unbeaten Moldovan Ion Cutelaba. Andryszak came out aggressive, as he took down Cutelaba and worked well from the top, landing some good elbows. After getting back to his feet, Cutelaba reversed a throw from Andryszak and ended up on top, landing some big ground and pound, but unfortunately, some of Cutelaba’s shots were illegal, and Andryszak couldn’t continue. Due to the illegal blows from Cutelaba he was disqualified, but hopefully Ian Dean and the team at Cage Warriors re-book this fight for the Cage Warriors show in Dagestan.
In the main event, Chechen hero Beslan Isaev faced Hungarian Viktor Halmi, and from the get go Beslan Isaev looked amazing. On the feet Isaev was technical and deliberate — every strike he threw was well placed and powerful, and had Halmi in obvious trouble, Halmi shot in on a sloppy takedown and Isaev locked in a tight guillotine, which rendered the tap.
The Chechen crowd was amazing when their star Isaev was in the cage, and it looks for certain that Isaev will be a part of the Cage Warriors expansion through this region,
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Cage Warriors 58 will take place on August 24, 2013 at the Olympisk Arena in Grozny, Chechnya.
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