Bantamweight, Da’Mon Blackshear (11-4)
Blackshear took out the undefeated DeAndre Anderson for the CFFC title. In the opening seconds, Blackshear dropped Anderson with a right hand briefly. Anderson got back up, attempted a guillotine, and pulled guard but it didn’t work out. Blackshear landed a flying knee into a wild scramble. He took the back and sunk in an RNC for the win.
Grade: A
Atomweight, Rena Kubota (12-3)
A fight she won back in 2016 she won again. Kubota put her main focus on chopping at the legs of her opponent, Miyuu Yamamoto. She was taken down in round one but had an armbar locked in at the bell. Kubota was taken down again in round two. She was never in danger and got back to her feet. Kubota threw a kick as her opponent bent down catching her in the face. Her opponent was on her hands and knees allowing Kubota to land until the ref stepped in.
Grade: B
Heavyweight, Alexander Soldatkin (11-3)
Soldatkin finished Edivan Santos who recently fought on the Contender Series. He kept his hands high and walked down Santos. Soldatkin was the one landing the harder shots when they exchanged. In the clinch, Santos complained about a knee to the groin. The ref didn’t see it. Soldatkin capitalized landing a flurry of strikes dropping Santos and the fight was over.
Grade: B
Lightweight, Josh Kuhne (3-0)
Kuhne has a knack for finishing fights in under a minute and that’s what he did here. His hands were flying right out of the gate. It was a right cross that first got the attention of his opponent. Kuhne was landing with both his hands but that right hand was money. With two right hands, a knee, and another right hand his opponent was out on the feet. Kuhne is a very dangerous man.
Grade: A-
Lightweight, Jack Becker (10-2)
This was the first title defense of Becker’s Eternal lightweight title. Quickly the distance was closed and Becker hit a beautiful outside trip. Becker went to work attacking the legs but allowed his opponent to get back to his feet. Staying on the bone Becker tied up with his opponent. He interlaced a leg taking the fight back down and scrambled on top. very smoothly Becker moved into mount. He later locked in an arm-triangle and the guy tapped.
Grade: A+
Featherweight, Heber Pereyra (9-1)
This fight was over in just under thirty seconds. Pereyra opened up with some good leg kicks while getting his head off the centerline. He closed the distance and threw a sneaky uppercut that put his opponent out cold. That’s now three in a row for Pereyra and still has a 100% finish rate.
Grade: C
Light heavyweight, Antonio Trócoli (12-3)
Easy work for Trocoli finishing this fight in the first round. Thirty seconds in he got the takedown. As his opponent tried to get to his feet Trocoli took the back. He went belly down with the RNC and put his opponent to sleep. It was quite clear that the guy didn’t deserve to be in there with Trocoli.
Grade: B-
Flyweight, Eduardo Henrique da Silva (9-1)
Silva was taken down in round one and controlled off his back for a little bit. After that though he slowly started to take over. He was landing really good with his hands slipping punches and returning. In round two Silva was visibly the better-conditioned fighter. He landed a beautiful multi-strike combination kicking the legs, striking the body, and head. Dropping his opponent briefly and Silva swarmed until the ref stepped in.
Grade: B+
Bantamweight, Kauã Fernandes (5-0)
Fernandes, the taller fighter, took control of the distance. He was throwing some good kicks and sniping on the outside. Fernandes was throwing a lot of hard feints that his opponent was biting hard on. He ended up freezing his opponent and came in with a short left hook. The walk-off knockout delivered from Fernandes was beautiful.
Grade: B
Lightweight, Magomed Kabardiev (7-0)
Kabardiev displayed some fantastic takedown defense stuffing some very deep takedowns. In round one he hit a beautiful judo toss right into mount. His opponent gassed himself out going for the takedowns and Kabardiev was styling on him in space. Kabardiev was landing very good in and out. Kabardiev in round two landed a head kick off the break from the clinch. Kabardiev in the clinch landed some vicious elbows and knees busting the other guy up. His opponent turned away and Kabardiev landed a series of left hands and it was all over. Kabardiev looked like the real deal.
Grade: A+
Featherweight, Nikolay Samusev (8-0)
Outside of falling to his back a few times Samusev looked good. Samusev gave his opponent a bunch of different looks throwing from the outside, coming in at angles. His head movement was on point and defense altogether solid. In round two along the cage, a short elbow sat his opponent down. There were a few grounded punches before the ref stopped the fight. Nothing spectacular but Samusev cruised to retain his Naiza FC title.
Grade: B-
Middleweight, Sharaputdin Magomedov (7-0)
What a showcase performance from Russia’s Sharaputdin Magomedov. He defended every takedown and was able to just let loose on the feet. Throwing a lot of flashy attacks Magomedov did almost all the work with his legs. He threw kicks with both legs and threw combinations from one side to the other. All that while going crazy with flying knees and jumping kicks. Using a lot of feints as well opened up his striking. Magomedov threw a hook kick twice in round one and thirteen seconds into round two that’s what he knocked his opponent out with. Sensational performance.
Grade: A+
