Absolute Championship Berkut rolled into the UAE last weekend wowing MMA fans in a first-rate event held at Dubai Sports City.
The Russian-based promotion promises fight quality over glitz and glamour on their cards and certainly backed that up in front of a near capacity crowd at The Dome.
The night’s main event saw Polish welterweight Aslambek Saidov overcome Brazil’s Roan Carneiro. Saidov dominated for long periods and now moves to 22-5, further enhancing his credentials in the division. Carneiro is a UFC veteran with notable wins over Rich Clementi and Mark Munoz, and is another notch on the belt of the Polish fighter.
In the co-main event of the evening, British fighter Luke Barnatt took the spoils thanks to a second-round stoppage of Maxim Futin.
Winner: Britain’s Luke Barnatt.
It was ‘Big Slow’s’ first venture into the light-heavyweight category and it took him time to settle. Despite Barnatt having an eight-inch height advantage, Futin got on the inside at will in the first stanza, landing well especially with the overhand right. As the fight went on, former UFC man Barnatt started to find his range and connect. A flurry of punches and elbows eventually saw the referee stop the bout at 3.27 in round 2.
Post-fight, Barnatt spoke of his disappointment at his performance, but happiness to get the win under his belt.
The crowd in Dubai was vociferous throughout but even more so than when the card’s Afghan fighters were in action – and one was involved in the fight of the night.
Baz Mohammad Mubariz won via unanimous decision against Scotland’s Iain Feenan in the lightweight division.
Mulbariz got the best of the first round with an aggressive striking style and intense forward pressure which had the Scot on the back foot from early on. Feenan was dropped with a solid right hand but managed to recover from a barrage of shots from the top to see out the round. Feenan established himself in the second and damaged his opponent with some strong work on the feet and ground.
In the end it was Mubariz’s physicality and durability which won the third round and the nod from the judges. Elsewhere, Abdul-Rahman Dzhanaev pulled out a stunning finish in the final seconds of his clash with Brazilian, Leandro Silva.
The Russian looked certain to claim a decision win, but sunk in an armbar forcing a tap with less than 10 seconds of the fight remaining.
In an extensive card there were also wins for Islam Isaev, Ramazan Kuramagomedov, Francisco de Lima Maciel, Narek Avagyan, Josiel Silva, Ahmed Wali Hotak, Khusein Sheikhaev, and Shoaib Yousaf.