A tournament was held in the United States yesterday Bellator 298, which was attended by several fighters from Russia. Valentin Moldavsky, Islam Mamedov, Diana Avsaragova, Kasum Kasumov, Vladimir Tokov and Nikita Mikhailov – all these people fought at the last event. And, unfortunately, only half of them managed to win.
Valentin Moldavsky – one of the strongest students of Fedor Emelianenko – until recently held the interim Bellator heavyweight belt. In 2021, he won the title by defeating Timothy Johnson. However, after that success, Moldavsky had a difficult period: over the next two-plus years, he had three fights, and could not win in any of them. This nasty streak included two losses – from Ryan Bader in a championship fight and a knockout in a rematch with Linton Wassel – and a “failed” fight with Steve Mowry. And it was with this very Mowry Moldavsky who fought at the past Bellator 298. Their first fight had to be stopped at the very beginning: the Russian got a poke in the eye and could not continue to fight. Now, the opponents have played three full rounds, and Moldavsky got even in full, taking a landslide victory by decision of the judges.
For team representative Khabib Nurmagomedov Islam Mammadov, the fight at the last tournament was the fourth in Bellator. In the previous three, he won two status victories, thanks to which he took the seventh line in the lightweight rating. Mamedov’s new opponent was Sidney Outlaw, number six. The opponents spent 15 minutes in the cage, following which the judges unanimously decided to give the victory to the American athlete. For Mammadov, this defeat was the second in Bellator and the third in his career.
Diana Avsaragova had her fifth Bellator fight the day before, and she also failed to win. Rival Justine Kish was stronger in three rounds. We wrote more about this fight here:
For another fighter from the team of Khabib Kasum Kasumov, the last fight at Bellator 298 was his debut in the league, and he coped with this exam. True, it was not easy for the Chechen athlete: Kasumov defeated the American Josh Hill by a split decision of the judges.
Well, at the end we will add some information about the fights of the students of Fedor Emelianenko – Vladimir Tokov and Nikita Mikhailov. The first one managed to get past Jair Pacheco, and this victory was the second in a row for the Russian fighter in Bellator. Now Tokov’s record in the league is 5:2. But Mikhailov, unfortunately, lost his fight. Nikita is considered one of the most gifted young athletes of the Fedor Team and a lot is expected of him. However, so far the career of a promising fighter overseas is developing quite difficult. Mikhailov held his fifth fight in Bellator, and the defeat (guillotine choke in the second round), which Leandro Higo inflicted on him, was already the second for him here. However, Nikita is only 24 years old, which means that he still has every chance to open up properly in the near future.
2023-08-13 00:09:00
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