RUDNEV SHOCKS MEZHLUMYAN IN FIRST ROUND TO TAKE GOLD IN ABU DHABI

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Vladislav Rudnev 13-0, the fastest rising Ukrainian MMA prospect in the world, announced himself on the global stage in spectacular fashion by taking the tap in the first round from Russian-Armenian veteran Martun Mezhlumyan 15-4 to take the UAE Warriors vacant lightweight title. 

Over two nights of mixed martial arts action at the packed Space 42 Arena during another one of the Middle East’s biggest combat sports promotions famous double-headers, fans were treated to a wide variety of upsets, knockouts, dramatic submissions and some of the closest contests ever committed to recent promotional memory. But they were all over-shadowed in sensational style by the main event where the multiple-times Combat Sambo champion of the world took the dangerous Mezhlumyan’s back, and immediately sank in the rear-naked choke which the Armenian immediately recognised as inescapable. Cagside jaws dropped as he submitted forlornly, causing Rudnev to leap to his feet and scream as the tears began to flow as he realised what he had achieved. The world now waits to see if he will defend his newly minted crown or whether a thoroughly deserving contract from Las Vegas will be despatched to Kharkiv with haste.

In the co-main event, promotional goat and fan favourite Bruno Machado 20-9 had to dig deeper than ever before when he was floored by an hellacious left hook from his opponent, Bakhtiyar Orazgeldyev 7-2. Waking upon hitting the canvas, ‘Caveira’ unleashed a series of upkicks which prompted his Turkmen opponent into his guard and fall into a triangle from which Orazgeldyev was somehow able to escape. From then on, the resurgent Brazilian displayed crisp kickboxing from range and suffocating jiu-jitsu to dominate the exchanges and take the unanimous decision to the delight of the sold-out crowd.

The night before, UAE Warriors 70 had set the scene perfectly as that main event also contained a huge upset. Moroccan-French heavyweight wrecking machine Badr Medkouri 9-3 struggled to deal with the forward pressure of his opponent from Curitiba, Eduardo Neves 9-3 who in the second round launched an irrepressible back attack to sink in the rear naked choke and submit the Marseille giant.

The evening’s co-main event witnessed the return of the promotion’s Intercontinental Featherweight Champion, Sylvester Chipfumbu 14-6 in a non-title fight, putting on a clinic against New Jersey-based Albanian, Vilson Ndregjoni 11-6, who struggled to deal with the technical pugilism of the Zimbabwean who was also a step ahead in the grappling exchanges. That not only gave the ‘Gladiator’ the unanimous decision win, but the appreciation of a crowd who are still anticipating the much-expected rematch with Jordan’s Ali AlQaisi 16-10.

With 38 fighters competing over the long weekend of action in the global center of the combat sports world, UAE Warriors continues to prove why this city remains the number one destination for fight fansm hungry for the best international MMA action on the planet. 

The full UAE Warriors 70 and 71 results are as follows:

UAE Warriors 70

Amirchupan Taygibov 2-0 def Khusankhoja Nurmukhammedov 2-1 by TKO in Rd 1

Ata Atdayev 6-0 def Dzhafar Nuraliev 4-2 by Rear Naked Choke in Rd 2

Sirozhiddin Bekmurodov 8-2 def Cleiver Fernandes 9-3 by Split Decision

Evgeny Morozov 11-2 def Magomedkhabib Ramazanov 5-2 by Unanimous Decision

Magomed Kurbanov 4-0 def Sardor Babayanov 5-3 by TKO in Rd 1

Pedro Oliveira 11-4 def Bauyrzhan Kuanyshbayev 19-8 by Unanimous Decision

Flobater Fares 4-0 def Elorde Jr. Malanao Sandigon 6-2 by TKO in Rd 2

Ramazan Ragimov 7-0 def Alexey Budrin 5-2 by Unanimous Decision

Sylvester Chipfumbu 14-6 def Vilson Ndregjoni 11-6 by Unanimous Decision

Eduardo Neves 9-3 def Badr Medkouri 9-3 by Rear Naked Choke in Rd 2

UAE Warriors 71

Ridouan Errami 5-0 def Ruel Pañales 6-4 by TKO in Rd 2

Ayissi Bessala 3-0 vs Siyaku Dumiso 5-5 by KO in Rd 1

Anna Safeeva 6-1 def Fabiola Pidroni 7-4 by Unanimous Decision 

Aslankhan Akhmedov 3-1 def Seung Jun Lee 7-9 by TKO in Rd 2

Muhammad Said 9-0 def Luis Henrique da Silva 20-12 by TKO in Rd 1

Jaures Dea 13-7 def Sergo Aleksanyan 5-2 by Split Decision

Ullubiy Amirzhanov 7-0 vs Bruno Rocha 6-2 by D’Arce Choke in Rd 2

Bruno Machado 20-9 def Bakhtiyar Orazgeldyev 7-2 by Unanimous Decision

Vladislav Rudnev 13-0 def Martun Mezhlumyan 15-4 by Rear Naked Choke in Rd 1

UAE Warriors 70 & 71 took place in Abu Dhabi on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th of May at the Space 42 Arena in Abu Dhabi and was broadcast live around the world on UFC Fight Pass.

Further information available at www.uaewarriors.com