Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the Matrix FIght Night, happening at the Noida Indoor Stadium in Uttar Pradesh. This was Nigamanth, who took you through all the action as it unfolded.
At the mid-round break, the referee has a word with Anastasia and she says she doesn’t want to continue and so does her coach. PUJA RETAINS HER STRAWWEIGHT TITLE VIA CORNER STOPPAGE!
Round 4: Puja continues her demolition job. Dishes out a high kick and just as Anastasia lost control, Puja follows up with continuous strikes. The penultimate round comes to an end
Round 3: Something for Anastasia to cheer about as she finally lands a side kick. Just as we speak, the Russian tries another side kick but trips and falls. But Puja is not able to do anything as Anastasia is up quickly. Looks like this will go the full five rounds. Puja is still dominating with some damaging kicks. Round 3 comes to an end
Round 2: Two powerful inside leg kicks from Puja. The fighters are taking it slow here, but Puja keeps chipping off with leg kicks. A rather uneventful round comes to an end but Puja will be the happier among the two as she has inflicted enough damage to the Russian’s legs, that are visibly bruised
Round 1: This is the first all women fight in a main event in MFN history. Puja starts off with sheer agression as she takes Anastasia down first up and follows it up with kicks. Another high kick from Puja to Anastasia’s jaw. The only counter that Anastasia can think of is pinning her opponent to the edge of a cage and that seems to be working out, Puja is finding it difficult to come out of the hold. The Indian finally breaks the lock and does the same. Round comes to an end with consecutive strikes from Puja
Puja comes into the fight on the back fo a three-fight-winning streak and will be primed to defend her title. Meanwhile, Anastasia has won just one of his last three fights and will be looking to prove a point in the fight tonight.
It’s now time for the event that we’ve all waited for. The title fight between India’s Puja Tomar and Russia’s Anastasia Feofanova.
MAIN CARD results
Round 2: Huge from Machaev as he lands a flying knee kick and a spinning kick consecutively. The game comes to a pause after Machaev’s unintentional low blow. Azizov is down in pain, he has five minutes to recover. THE REFEREE HAS CALLED OFF THE FIGHT! Heartbreak for both the fighters as the fight is declared NO CONTEST!
Round 1: Time for the co main event with the featherweight title on the line. Machaev chips points off a jab and a leg kick to start off. Machaev has dominated the first half, his powerful right arm jab is a testament to that. Machaev couples that with a wonderful takedown and continues to dish out consecutive jabs. And that’s the end of first round.
Round 1: Digamber is just two fights old but has made waves in the MFN arena , with his lethal elbows. While, Neeraj comes into this fight on the back of a knockout win over Owais Yaqoob. A battle of footwork to get things rolling as both fighters exchange leg kicks. Neeraj finally gets a hold on his opponent and sucessfully takes him down. Neeraj tries a leg lock but Digamber is too fast for him. Three clean swings from Neeraj as Digamber continues to get dominated but EVERYTHING CHANGES IN A MATTER OF SECONDS AS DIGAMBER KNOCKS NEERAJ OUT VIA STRIKES!
29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in favour of Pawan!
Round 3: Wonderful right arm jab from Sandeep as he drops Pawan down, continues to land kicks on him. Sandeep starts to taunt and that agitates Pawan as he tries recklessly to land a jab but fails. End of the third and final round
Round 2: Sandeep starts of with a low blow. Pawan proceeds to take Sandeep down, the latter lets off his guard but Pawan fails to capitalise. As Pawan continues to land jab after jab, Sandeep tries a body hold. That’s the end of round two
Round 1: Pawan Maan, who fought in the UFC road to final, will be in action against Sandeep Dahiya next! The fighters have faced each other thrice before. Two wins each and a draw. Two powerful upper cuts from Pawan to take the early advantage. Sandeep counters with a takedown, tops it off with consecutive jabs. Pawan tries to grapple but Sandeep counters with the under hook to put his opponent in an awkward position. Sandeep tries a triangle choke but fails. End of round one
29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in favour of Thapa!
Round 3: Lanamai is going for the takedown from the get go. But Thapa sees it coming and counters with a chokehold, Lanamai’s left eye is bleeding as well. A rear naked choke from Thapa now. However, Lanamai has not let his composure till now, staying calm throughout. Thapa continues to choke but a slippery Lanamai finally breaks the deadlock. And that brings an end to the third and final round
Round 2: Looks like Thapa is bleeding following a jab from Lanamai. The latter then dishes out a superb kick to Thapa’s jaw. An uneventful round other than that and it comes to an end
ROUND 1: Thapa starts off positively, evades a kick from Lanamai to land a couple of jabs. But Lanamai gets the better of his opponent as he holds him with a body triangle. Superb takedown from Thapa, gets hold of Lanamai’s legs and pins him down with swift movements. First round comes to an end
Two Indians this time. Avizo Lanamai from Nagaland will be taking on Haryana’s Rahul Thapa. Both the fighters have a similar MFN record - 2-0.
Round 1: An intense stare down between the fighters before they start the proceedings. Both land jabs to start off. AND WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT! SHYAMANAND KNOCKS MIDO WITH A THUNDEROUS JAB TO HIS LEFT EYE! Two consecutive first round finishes!
Up next, Indias Shyamanand will be up against Egypt’s Mido Mohamed, who is yet to suffer a loss with a 5-0-1 record. Shyamanand meanwhile, comes into this fight on the back of a three-fight winning streak.
First up in the main card, bantamweight bout between Chaitanya and Chungreng. Chungreng is inflicting some devastating blows as Chaitanya is pinned down. The referee is ready to finish the match and that is what has happened. CHUNGRENG WINS THE BOUT VIA STOPPAGE! STATEMENT WIN!
With that, the prelims come to an end. Now it’s time for the main card fights!
MFN 12 - prelims fight card results*
29-28x3 in favour of Aminder!
Round 3: Both the fighters are fighting for takedown attempts but have come out unsuccessful. Despite just two minutes remaining on the clock, there seems to be no certain winner here. An evenly poised fight so far. That’s the end of the fight and Aminder has started celebrating but he has to wait for the judges to continue the celebration
Round 2: Amrinder, constantly on the move, connects some vital right arm jabs. Akash has been concentrating on grapples but Aminder has been clinical with his strikes. End of round 2
Round 1: Akash of Punjab and Uttarakhand’s Amrinder are in for the next fight. Aminder has opted for a wide stance and that can restrict his movement. Akash might try to get an opening with this inhis mind. Amrinder picks Akash from one corner and pins him down on the other! The Uttarakhand man is thinking out of the box! Aminder starts to chip points off cheeky leg kicks now. Akash tries an audacious flying knee kick but Aminder evades it and with that, round one comes to an end
30-27x3 in favour of Sonam as she emerges as the winner!
Round 3: Sonam pushes Jojo towards the edge of the cage and inflicts damage through a couple of knee kicks. Jojo finally has something going towards her as Sonam slips. Jojo capitalises and connects a powerful elbow. End of round three
Round 2: Jojo has been lethargic with her guard and Sonam has been exploiting it constantly, this time she finds Jojo’s ear with a spinning elbow. A fairly dull round comes to an end. Meanwhile, India batter Shikhar Dhawan is in attendance at the Noida Indoor stadium!
Round 1: The women exchange back-to-back leg kicks. Jojo tries anothe leg kick but loses balance and falls down. Sonam waits for her opportunity and pounces right when she got it and pins her opponent down. Sonam continues to dominate as she drops multiple elbow blows. Failed jabs from both the sides. Round one comes to a close
Up next, Anthony of Shillong will be up against Delhi’s Dushyant.
30-27, 30-26, 30-26 in favour of Dushyant and he wins the bout via unanimous decision!
Round 3: Another lapse of concentration from Anthony and he gets pinned down immediately. Although being down for the majority of the fight, Anthony has stayed calm throughout. Meanwhile, Dushyant has been clinical with his punches and has been picking points constantly. Dushyant’s coach and support staff are urging him to finish the fight, they don’t want this to go towards the judges but that is what has happened now. Third and final round comes to an end. Upto the judges now but Dushyant can be confident for the kind of performance that he’s put in. Over eight minutes of ground control for the Delhi man in total
Round 2: Anthony lets his guard down for a moment and Dushyant grapples without second thoughts. Similar start to this round as well. Anthony tries to kick but Dushyant gets hold of the leg and slams Anthony down. He begins to elbow Anthony’s head, that prompts the referee to give out a warning. Proper ground and pound display from Dushyant. And with that the second round comes to a close. Dushyant, so far, has landed a whopping 39 ground strikes on his opponent
Round 1: Aggressive start from Dushyant as he lands a couple of inside leg kicks and pins Anthony down. He continues to to attack with multiple jabs to Anthony’s torso. Anthony tries to break the lock but Dushyant counters it with knee kicks. Superb reversal from Athony but an even better move from Dushyant leads to Anthony getting a shoulder choke. Dushyant continues to suffocate his opponent with an arm triangle hold. End of round 1
First up, in the prelims, it’s the lightweight fight between two Indians - Gurtej Singh and Edukondal Rao.
GURTEJ SINGH WINS THE LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION!
Round 3: Rao is visibly panting. Opportunity for Gurtej to dictate terms here. Gurtej lands a lethal right handed jab to Rao’s neck that leaves the latter on the ground. Gurtej succeeds with the grapple yet again. Looks like it will be upto the judges to decide the winner here with just 15 seconds on the clock. Gurtej tried to make Rao submit but the final bell saves him.
Round 2: Rao tries a spinning leg kick but Gurtej evades it pretty easily. The first minute went by in a flash with back and forth between the fighters, undecisive of who will take the initiative. Rao’s attempts to land a kick on his opponent are in vain as Gurtej’s guard is unbreakable. Gurtej pins Rao down yet again with a superb grapple. Rao tries t body lock but Gurtej spots the opening and lands two powerful jabs. Thats the end of round 2
Round 1: Gurtej starts off positively, with two quick kicks to Rao’s shoulder and has him pinned down. Gurtej tops it with consecutive jabs to Rao’s head. Rao finally breaks the deadlock but it’s too late as the round comes to an end.
The main event was supposed to be Angad Bisht of India defending his Flyweight title against Brazil’s Hugo Paiva. But the Indian pulled out of the fight after Paiva missed his weight by 2.2 kgs.
Here’s a story by our correspondent Jonathan Selvaraj on Angan Bisht’s journey into the Mixed Martial Arts arena.
PREVIEW
Matrix Fight Night returns on Sunday at the Noida indoor stadium in Uttar Pradesh, which will present an opportunity for nine Indian fighters to showcase their potential.
In the main event, India highest ranked female MMA fighter Puja Tomar will defend her strawweight title against Anastasia Feofanova of Russia, making it the first-ever all-woman main event fight in MFN.
Read other MMA stories/results - HERE
Puja comes into the fight on the back fo a three-fight-winning streak and will be primed to defend her title. Meanwhile, Anastasia has won just one of his last three fights and will be looking to prove a point in the fight tonight.
The originally scheduled main event featherweight title bout between India’s Sanjeet Budhwar and Mochamed Machaev of Austria, has been scrapped after the Indian pulled out of the event due to an unspecified sickness.
Pawan Maan Singh will also compete in the event and will be fighting for the first time since his ‘Road to UFC’ campaign, which ended abruptly with a loss to Jeka Saragih.
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