Connect with us

MMA

Super RIZIN 5 results: Razhabali Shaidulloev tops A.J. McKee to win RIZIN, PFL titles; Mikuru Asakura knocks out Shinya Aoki

Published

on

Super RIZIN 5 results: Razhabali Shaidulloev tops A.J. McKee to win RIZIN, PFL titles; Mikuru Asakura knocks out Shinya Aoki

Razhabali Shaidulloev is now a two-promotion featherweight champion after defeating A.J. McKee for the RIZIN and PFL belts in the main event of Thursday's Super RIZIN 5 in Osaka, Japan.

Competing in front of nearly 49,000 fans inside the Kyosera Dome Osaka, Shaidulloev controlled McKee in a hard-fought battle across three rounds to walk again with both titles and improve to 19-0 as a professional MMA fighter.

McKee rocked Shaidulloev early, but the undefeated featherweight kept his composure and slammed McKee on the ground immediately after. McKee threatened with a choke, but Shaidulloev had no problem escaping and battling for position in grappling for the remaining of the round.

Shaidulloev came back more aggressive in the second and hurt McKee with a couple of hands to the head and a body kick. McKee appeared exhausted, and Shaidulloev spent the rest of the round working on ground and pound attacks.

McKee needed a finish in the third round, the first time Shaidulloev has gone that long in a fight, and fired off knees early on. Shaidulloev took him back to the ground and McKee managed to take his back at one point, scored another takedown late, but wasn't able to do much with it.

Shaidulloev walks away with two belts after a unanimous decision victory, a 30-27 score for all three judges. He announced during his post-fight interview he only has one bout left in his deal with the Japanese organization.

Kyoma Akimoto, on a six-fight winning streak after beating former champion Kleber Koike in August, entered the ring afterwards to face off with Shaidulloev. The title bout is official for the NYE show.

Shinya Aoki was looking for closure in his return to RIZIN 11 years after his sole appearance in the promotion, but it was Mikuru Asakura with the last laugh in the co-main event fight of Super RIZIN 5.

Aoki appeared to be close to turning back the clock after taking Asakura's back early in the fight and working on a rear-naked choke attempt, but going for an armbar proved to be a big mistake after Asakura escaped from danger and went on to pound his head multiple times for a violent first-round knockout.

Ren Hiramoto opened the main card with a controversial victory over Karshyga Dautbek. The Kazakhstani entered the ring on a 12-fight unbeaten streak and rocked Hiramoto in the first round but was unable to secure the finish.

The next rounds were closer, but two of the three judges saw an advantage for the Japanese striker despite Dautbek having better moments in the final stanza. Hiramoto walked away with a split decision win, with the dissenting judge scoring it 29-27 in favor of Dautbek.

In the preliminary portion of the card, former RIZIN lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi rebounded from a title loss to Ilkhom Nazimov with a comfortable victory over Shunta Nomura, forcing the Japanese lightweight to hang with him on his back for a good portion of rounds one and three to win a unanimous decision.

In his post-fight interview, Satoshi revealed he wasn't able to perform at his best after dislocating his shoulder in the first round, and asked for a shot at the belt on the traditional New Year's Eve card. Satoshi holds a 21-second knockout victory over current RIZIN titleholder Luiz Gustavo.

Check the complete Super RIZIN 5 results below.

Razhabali Shaidulloev def. A.J. McKee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mikuru Asakura def. Shinya Aoki via knockout — Round 1, 2:39
Ren Hiramoto def. Karshyga Dautbek via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 27-29)
Roberto Satoshi def. Shunta Nomura via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Yutaka Saito def. Ren “Ya-Man†Sugiyama via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Vugar Karamov def. Ryo Takagi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Natalia Kuziutina def. Rena Kubota via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 3:14
Hide Meison Usami def. Noah Bey via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25) — kickboxing

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MMA

Merab Dvalishvili calls himself a decision machine before Yan trilogy

Published

on

Merab Dvalishvili calls himself a 'decision machine' before Yan trilogy
Merab
Dvalishvili can joke about his low finishing rate in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Dvalishvili is scheduled to challenge Petr Yan for
the bantamweight title in a trilogy bout at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. When a fan
recently asked him to predict the outcome, the former champion
jokingly suggested another decision victory.

Merab Dvalishvili jokes about his decision-heavy record ahead
of Petr Yan title fight at UFC 333

Dvalishvili is known for his relentless pressure and wrestling,
with 16 of his 21 career victories coming by decision. The Georgian
has recorded two finishes in the UFC: a technical knockout of
Marlon
Moraes in 2021 and a submission of Sean
O’Malley in his second title defense last year.

Asked how he would beat Yan, Dvalishvili described himself as a
“decision machine.â€

“There are three ways to win: knockout, submission, or decision,â€
Dvalishvili said in a brief
interview. “I’m a decision machine.â€

Continue Reading

MMA

10 UFC wins, zero finishes: Movsar Evloev defends his fighting style

Published

on

10 UFC wins, zero finishes: Movsar Evloev defends his fighting style
Movsar
Evloev rejects the notion that fans only want bloody
fights.

Evloev is scheduled to challenge Alexander
Volkanovski for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The Russian
challenger has won all 10 of his UFC bouts by decision but believes
fans appreciate his fighting style.

Movsar Evloev argues wrestling can entertain UFC fans ahead of
Volkanovski title fight

The recent departures of Michael
Page and Farid
Basharat have fueled debate about whether winning is enough to
secure a new UFC contract. Neither fighter was re-signed despite a
winning streak, though a lack of finishes has not been established
as the reason for either departure.

Evloev believes finishes are not the only measure of a fighter's
value. He says fans also appreciate tactics, skill and
wrestling.

“I have zero finishes in UFC, but I'm still in the UFC and I'm
fighting for the title,†Evloev told MMA Fighting. “That means only
finishes are not important. To show a good fight is also important.
If you have no finish, you can still show a good fight, an exciting
fight; you can show the beauty of wrestling. There are not just
fans of MMA who just wait for blood. There are so many good fans
who know MMA, and they understand, and maybe because of them I'm
still in the UFC.â€

Continue Reading

MMA

Undefeated fighter blasts UFC, Dana White for creating ‘bullsh*t narrative’ around Farid Basharat release

Published

on

Undefeated fighter blasts UFC, Dana White for creating ‘bullsh*t narrative’ around Farid Basharat release

Muhammad Mokaev knows how it feels to win in the octagon and still lose with the UFC.

In 2024, Mokaev experienced a similar rift despite having zero losses on his record, and he is now taking aim at White and the UFC's practices in defense of Basharat.

“When fighters are getting phone calls from bosses telling them, ‘If you keep wrestling like that, you're going to get cut,' then you're basically telling fighters how you want them to fight,†Mokaev wrote on Twitter. “At what point does that cross the line? Isn't that influencing the competition?

“And if you want to release a fighter, fine. But don't then publicly say he was ‘hard to deal with' or create some bullshit narrative about him that could damage his reputation and make other organizations think twice about signing him. Release fighters if you want. Just don't try to damage their careers on the way out.â€

Like Basharat, Mokaev employed a wrestling-heavy style that didn't always produce thrilling back-and-forth contests (though Mokaev did score submission victories in four of his seven UFC wins). The nail in the coffin for Mokaev was a disappointing decision win over Manel Kape at UFC 304, where both men produced little meaningful offense. Making matters worse, Mokaev and Kape had an altercation during fight week, with Mokaev admitting he threw the first punch.

Mokaev is 4-0 since parting ways with the UFC, having finished three of his past four opponents, but remains on the outside looking in with his competition going mostly unrecognized by fans in North America. The 26-year-old is currently No. 7 at 125 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending