Russian heavyweight Ruslan Magomedov steamrolled former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez on Friday night in the headlining mixed martial arts bout of United Glory 15, held at the Dynamo Sports Palace in Moscow, Russia.
Magomedov, a late replacement for fellow UFC veteran Denis Stojnic, peppered Rodriguez at-will on the feet and defended a slew of lethargic takedown attempts with ease to claim a unanimous judges’ decision (30-27, x3).
The loss marks another rough patch for the 34-year-old Rodriguez, who falls to 1-6 over his last seven bouts following a roller-coaster twelve-fight win streak. Magomedov, meanwhile, ups his record to 7-1 in his first action in eight months.
In the night’s featured kickboxing match, Semmy Schilt returned from an almost two-year layoff to overwhelm a game Brice Guidon and earn the unanimous judges’ nod.
A K-1 legend and four-time World Grand Prix champion, Schilt used his significant range advantage to perfection, battering Guidon from distance and knocking him down multiple times throughout the latter rounds to earn his first victory since the 2010 K-1 Grand Prix semi-finals.
Elsewhere on the card, Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix semi-finalist Sergei Kharitonov dominated American upstart Mark Miller early, finding his mark with swarming combinations before mercifully ending the bout with monstrous right hook two minutes into the first round.
The match marked Kharitonov’s first appearance since his tournament loss to Josh Barnett, and moves the 31-year-old Russian to 3-2 for his occasional forays into kickboxing.
United Glory 15: ‘World Series 2012′ results can be seen below.
Mixed Martial Arts:
Ruslan Magomedov def. Ricco Rodriguez via unanimous decision
Ilir Latifi def. Denis Bogdanov via submission (Americana) at 1:50 of round 1
Gasan Umalatov def. Anatoly Safronov via submission (guillotine choke) at :51 of round 1
Murad Machaev def. Cesario di Domenico via unanimous decision
Kickboxing:
Semmy Schilt def. Brice Guidon via unanimous decision
Errol Zimmerman def. Jerome Le Banner via TKO (knockdowns) in round 1
Sergei Kharitonov def. Mark Miller via KO (punch) in round 1
Ali Cenik def. Sergej Maslobojev via decision
Zabit Samedov def. Igor Jurkovic via unanimous decision
Jamal Ben Saddik def. Vitaly Oparin via TKO in round 1
Dzhabar Askerov def. Maxim Vyrovski via split decision (overtime)
Nieky Holzken def. David Kyria via unanimous decision