Mark Miller wastes no time knocking out Nikolaj Falin. Props: MMATKO
Chances are that you knew about the United Glory Tournament Finals that took place yesterday in Moscow. It featured some pretty intriguing fights, was available on YouTube and cost less than ten bucks. Of course, many of you figured you could save your money and check Cage Potato this afternoon for some highlights and a quick list of results. Don’t worry, we got your back as usual.
The welterweight tournament, which began in October of 2010, came to an end with a scrap between Golden Glory teammates Tommy Depret and Siyar Bahadurzada. To those of you who have concerns that two teammates fighting each other would lead to a boring fight, relax and take notes. Tommy Depret gave current SHOOTO light heavyweight champion Siyar Bahadurzada trouble in the opening round, but once the second round started, this fight was all Bahadurzada. Bahadurzada used his superior hands and clinchwork to get finish off Depret. Yes, we have a video of this after the jump.
Also of note, TUF Season 9 veteren Mark Miller returned to action in a kickboxing match. In his first fight since undergoing open heart surgery, Mark Miller knocked out his opponent less than ten seconds into the fight. Just something to think about next time you skip going to the gym over a headache. Also of note, Strikeforce heavyweight tournament competitor Sergei Kharitonov squared off against Mighty Mo in a kickboxing match. Since this is Strikeforce we’re dealing with, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to read that Kharitonov not only lost, but sustained an injury that will sideline him for a pretty long time. Fortunately for Strikeforce, that didn’t happen. Kharitonov knocked out Mighty Mo in the first round. Video is below:
SPOILER ALERT: DREAM 17 took place last night in Japan. However, the fights will not air until HDNet plays a taped version of the event June 3. If you want to watch the event and be surprised, stop reading now. And no, this article doesn’t have videos of the fights
For those of you still here, Shinya Aoki delivered an impressive performance against McKee Nelson Rich Clementi. While Clementi showed a lot of heart, he was by no means ever in control of this fight. Aoki finished Clementi with a neck crank from back control in the second round.
As for the Bantamweight Grand Prix, Masakazu Imanari and Hideo Tokoro will be fighting in the finale. Imanari locked in a heel hook over WEC veteran Kenji Osawa, while Tokoro squeezed out a very close split decision victory over Atsushi Yamamoto. The finale of the grand prix is set to take place on July 16. Also, both Caol Uno Joachim Hansen took home decision victories against Akiyo Nishiura and Mitsuhiro Ishida, respectively.
Full results:
Ultimate Glory Tournament Finals, courtesy of BoxeoMundial.com:
Igor Jurkovic defeats Pavel Zhuravlev via TKO in round 2 (kickboxing).
Denis Stojnic defeats Mladen Kujundzic via submission in round 1.
Errol Zimmerman defeats Mourad Bouzidi by unanimous decision (kickboxing).
Rasul Mirzaev deafeats Roman Kishev via submission.
Mark Miller defeats Nikolaj Falin via KO in round 1 (kickboxing).
Dion Staring defeats Roman Savochka via TKO in round 1.
Sergei Kharitonov defeats Mighty Mo via KO in round 1 (kickboxing).
Ali Cenik and Zabit Samedov fight to a draw (kickboxing).
Jason Jones defeats Shamil Abdoulmouslimov via KO in round 3.
Artur Kyshenko defeats Nieky Holzken via unanimous decision (kickboxing).
Tournament Finales:
MMA: Siyar Bahadurzada defeats Tommy Depret via TKO in round 2.
Kickboxing: Gokhan Saki defeats Brice Guidon via unanimous decision.
DREAM 17, courtesy of MMAJunkie.com:
Masakazu Imanari def. Kenji Osawa via submission (Achilles lock) – Round 2, 0:58 (Japan bantamweight-tourney semifinal round)
Hideo Tokoro def. Atsushi Yamamoto via split decision (Japan bantamweight-tourney semifinal round)
Shinya Aoki def. Rich Clementi via submission (neck crank) – Round 2, 2:17
Katsunori Kikuno def. Daisuke Nakamura via unanimous decision
Caol Uno def. Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura via unanimous decision
Takeshi Inoue def. Koichiro Matsumoto via TKO (strikes) – Round, 6:51
Joachim Hansen def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via split decision
Kenji Osawa def. Takafumi Otsuka via split decision (Japan bantamweight-tourney first round)
Masakazu Imanari def. Keisuke Fujiwara via unanimous decision (Japan bantamweight-tourney first round)
Hideo Tokoro def. Yoshiro Maeda via TKO (corner’s stoppage) – Round 2, 0:43 (Japan bantamweight-tourney first round)
Atsushi Yamamoto def. Yusaku Nakamura via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 8:43 (Japan bantamweight-tourney first round)