UAE jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts athletes took home two major wins at the fifth Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship (ADXC) on Friday evening at the Mubadala Arena in Zayed Sports City.
The night featured 14 high-level jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts matchups.
Present at the event were Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Sultan bin Shakhbout Al Nahyan, President of the Asian Chess Federation, President of the Emirates Esports Federation and First Vice President of the Arab Esports Federation for Asia, Tarik bin Faisal Al-Qasimi and Alia bint Abdulla Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship.
UAE’s Omar Al Suwaidi, 21, beat US’s Samuel Marquez by unanimous decision in a fight that Al Suwaidi dominated by maintaining a high pace.
In the opening bout, the UAE’s Balqees Al Hashmi dominated her fight against Maria Odintsova of Russia.
Fully utilizing her guard, Al Hashmi maintained control throughout, applying some promising attacks and using her positional control to keep her opponent under pressure throughout. Al Hashmi won by unanimous decision.
On a night featuring 14 high-level jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts matchups and bringing 28 athletes from 26 countries, America’s Urijah Faber and Brazil’s Rayron Gracie emerged as champions. Faber won the no-gi trophy, and Gracie went home with the gi.
Faber showed his stamina as he defeated Bibiano Fernandes of Brazil nearly 20 years after their first encounter in MMA.
Tapping into his wrestling background to thwart Fernandes’ attacks, Faber worked better from the top as he put pressure on his opponent’s guard. The Brazilian had some good moments as he managed to land a few takedowns and sweeps, but Faber’s skills won through.
In the end, the American fighter conquered the ADXC cage via a unanimous decision. After the duel, Faber stressed his respect for his rival and praised the Abu Dhabi event.
In his showdown, Gracie gave no chance to debutant Marcos Carrozzino and picked up his second consecutive victory at ADXC, once again by submission.
Gracie started the fight by defending well against his opponent’s attacks. After a takedown attempt by Carrozzino, Gracie locked in an unorthodox choke, forcing his rival to tap out.
Afterwards, Gracie paid tribute to his uncle, renowned mixed martial artist Renzo Gracie, who was in his corner for the bout.
In the second main grappling fight, American Chad Mendes overcame Brazilian Diego Brandao by a unanimous decision. Mendes led throughout the fight, controlling his opponent’s head in the stand-up fight, applying good takedowns, and defending superbly.
The other main gi event was a very technical, balanced battle with Pedro Ramalho of Portugal narrowly defeating Max Lindblad of Sweden by a split decision to take the title. With similar fighting styles, the competitors exchanged grips and attacks while defending dangerous positions.
Ramalho stood out with good sweeps and was particularly dangerous with his feet. Lindblad’s standout moment was a footlock attempt that put him on top. In the end, though, Ramalho’s consistency was rewarded.
Another stellar display of strength and technique by Iranian fighter Pouya Rahmani in the ADXC cage saw him execute a single-leg takedown on Hamdy Abdelwahab and take the back, extending his arms to the crowd before sliding them under Abdelwahab’s neck and securing victory with a chokehold.
Tunisian fighter Amin Boudhina was defeated by Davi Vetoraci of Brazil. Vetoraci attacked from the beginning with a dangerous flying triangle, then transitioned to an armbar attempt, which Boudhina defended. Later, Vetoraci faked a shoulder lock.
When the Tunisian fighter spun to escape, Vetoraci locked in his winning armbar.
Nineteen-year-old Seilkhan Bolatbek of Kazakhstan achieved a quick victory against Emad Ahmedin of the Netherlands and Chinese fighter Xiaosong Shi was defeated by US fighter Abe “The Killer” Alsaghir in an intense match in which Alsaghir used the cage to his advantage.
She had some good moments, including a particularly well-executed guillotine attempt in the second round, but Alsaghir maintained pressure to emerge victorious by unanimous decision.
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