Zabit Samedov won the Global Fighting Championship (GFC3) belt at the Dubai Tennis Stadium over the weekend.

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Fighting before a packed stadium, Samedov outlasted his German/Congolese opponent Danyo Ilunga over four rounds. 

Following the mandatory three rounds of three minutes each, the judges could find hardly anything to separate the two fighters, necessitating a fourth round decider.

In the extra round, Samedov was dominant in the first part with a deadly combination of punches and kicks. Danyo, however, put on a brave resistance and countered towards the end. Samedov eventually won on the judges’ decision by a mere one point.

The fighter from Azerbaijan took home Dh1 million for his efforts along with the right to qualify for the season-ending $1 million (Dh3.67m) GFC Grand Prix that will be held at a location yet to be decided.

In earlier fights, Gokhan Saki won by an unanimous decision over his Romanian challenger, Sebastian Ciobanu, in their Heavyweight Superfight, the Turkish fighter from the Netherlands making his GFC debut with a win.

Ciobanu though survived a first round knockout, the Romanian then managing to go the full distance of three rounds. However, a flurry of punches and jabs towards the end of the third round tilted the advantage in favour of Saki, who took his career record to 82 wins.

The second Heavyweight Superfight ended in disappointment for Fatih Ulusoy as he broke his left shin within the opening 30 seconds of the bout against Ismael Lazaar. 

The fourth round of the series is scheduled to be held in the middle of May.