Zimbabwe’s Sylvester Chipfumbu put on the performance of a lifetime to take the first Intercontinental Title of UAE Warriors with a dominating win over the Jordanian legend Ali AlQaisi in the first evening of a double-header of combat. The following night, the Uzbek wrestling phenom Khotam Boynazarov defended his Welterweight title for the first time by taking the decision from the challenging UFC vet from Peru, James Llontop.
UAE Warriors 61 on the 23rd July and UAE Warriors 62 on the 24th featured 25 bouts at the Space 42 Arena in the global epicentre of combat sports where both title fights delivered atop two cards of non-stop action. For five rounds, ‘The Gladiator’ from Gweru, Sylvester Chipfumbu (12-6) kept it standing and managed the distance to out-point the local favourite Ali AlQaisi (16-9) and take the inaugural Featherweight Title of a new Intercontinental promotional format. In the co-main event, undefeated Azeri bantamweight sensation Asaf Chopurov (8-0) pounded-out his opponent João Pedro Saldanha (15-7) after being mounted in the first round despite the latter faking the glove touch. TUF 32 Contestant Omran Chaaban (9-1) continues to string the wins together after being cut from the house, this time taking just 56 seconds to grab the TKO win from leg kicks over Wellington Madeira (7-2).
In the main event the following evening, Khotam Boynazarov (11-0) out-wrestled this challenger over five hard-fought rounds, and though James Llontop (16-6) came back stronger in the championships rounds, the Uzbek star managed to hold on and keep the golden buckle strapped around his waist. The preceding fight witnessed the return of local legend Bruno Machado (18-9) who made short work of Agshin Babaev (22-11) just 90 seconds in the first round and in contrasting scenes, Machado called for a shot at the lightweight title-holder Amru Magomedov (9-0), whilst Babaev laid his gloves down in the center of the Octagon to draw the curtains upon an 18-year professional fighting career. The evening’s highlight though undoubtedly belonged to Iran’s Amir Hossein Alipour (5-1) who scored the most spectacular knockout of the week, sending Abelkrim Zouad (7-2) crashing to the canvas like lumber just a minute into their bout. The full results of UAE Warriors 61 and 62 are thus:
UAE Warriors 61, 23rd July
CW 60kg Abdurakhman Nasrutdinov bt Imram Magaramov, Body Shot RD 1
LW Gamid Khizriev bt Asliddin Eshankulov, Triangle Choke RD 3
CW 69kg Ilias Bulaid bt Eduard Demenko, Anaconda Choke RD 1
CW87 Sharapudin Ziyaudinov bt Amir Saeedkia, Unanimous Decision
SW Kanako Murata bt Ediana Silva, Unanimous Decision
LHW Caio Machado bt Kevin Oumar, Flying Knee RD 1
CW 63kg Demarte Pena bt Abay Zhalal, Unanimous Decision
BW Magomed Idrisov bt Daniel Leyva Villagra, Elbows and Punches RD 1
HW Kazbek Saidaliev bt Ronny Markes, Knee RD 2
CW79 Evgeny Morozov bt Evgeny Tabarovski, Elbows RD 1
WW Omran Chaaban bt Wellington Madeira, Leg Kicks RD 1
BW Asaf Chopurov bt João Pedro Saldanha, Punches RD 1
FW Intercontinental Title Sylvester Chipfumbu bt Ali AlQaisi, Unanimous Decision
UAE Warriors 62, 24th July
FW Maraoune Bellagouit bt Jayson Margallo, Elbows and Punches RD 1
FW Ramazan Ragimov bt Eduardo Mora, Punches RD 1
BW Ullubiy Amirzhanov bt Ravshan Boymirzoev, Body Kick RD 1
FLW Shanna Young bt Amena Hadeya, Unanimous Decision
WW Amir Hossein Alipour bt Abdelkrim Zouad, Punch RD1
BW Mehemmedeli Osmanli bt Faeez Jacobs, Unanimous Decision
FLW Yamato Fujita bt Maysara Mohamed, Rear Naked Choke RD 2
LW Felipe ‘Buakaw’ Douglas bt Zhasulan Akimzhanov, Unanimous Decision
CW 86kg Anvarbek Daniyalbekov bt Imam-Shapi Mukhtarov, Unanimous Decision
CW 75kg Magomed Kabardiev bt Kirill Horobets, Unanimous Decision
CW 71.5kg Bruno Machado bt Agshin Babaev, Punches RD 1
WW International Title Fight Khotam Boynazarov © bt James Llontop, Unanimous Decision
