“The Lion” once again reigns on the Absolute Championship Akhmat
lightweight division.
The ACA 111 main event on Saturday in Russia pitted Abdul-Aziz
Abdulvakhabov (18-2) against Alexander
Sarnavskiy (37-8) for the 155-pound championship vacated by
former titleholder Ali Bagov
following his move to the welterweight division. Sarnavskiy started
working Abdulvakhabov’s body early in the fight, and, for a while,
it seemed the strategy was paying its dividends. Right before the
end of the third round, Abdulvakhabov hit Sarnavskiy with a violent
series of elbows that changed the fight’s direction.
Entering the championship rounds, Abdulvakhabov made the most out
of his experience as former Absolute Championship Berkut champion,
hunting his opponent across the cage with several vicious shots
that transformed Sarnavskiy’s face into a bloody mask. During the
last seconds of the fight, both fighters brawled and exchanged wild
shots. Eventually, all five judges rewarded Abdulvakhabov with a
unanimous decision.
In the co-main event, Artem
Reznikov (22-6) upended Yusuf
Raisov (16-2) in their lightweight clash. It took one round for
Reznikov to find his opponent’s distance, with the first round that
may have gone to both contestants. However, once Reznikov’s
takedowns started landing, he proved to be the better wrestler by
pinning his opponent to the canvas for most of the fight. In the
third stanza, both “Borz” and Reznikov stung each other with their
jab, but it was the latter who landed the most meaningful shots.
Eventually, Reznikov took home a decision and now rides an
eight-bout winning streak.
Elsewhere, ACA light heavyweight contender Aleksei
Butorin (16-4) rendered Asylzhan
Bakhytzhanuly (11-2) unconscious with a violent overhand right
at the 0:27 mark of the third stanza. Butorin had already clipped
his opponent once earlier in the fight, but it seemed as though
Bakhytzhanuly had recovered from the shot and was arguably winning
the contest prior to the knockout.
In a featherweight clash, Tural
Ragimov (20-5) made a massive comeback at the expense of
Bekhruz
Sukhurov (14-4) and landed an unexpected third-round TKO
victory at the 1:23 mark. The main card opened with Azamat
Amagov (11-2) trashing Arseniy
Sultanov (7-1) via TKO a few seconds into the first stanza of
their middleweight encounter.