Yusuf Raisov and Eduard Vartanyan headline Friday’s ACA 147 in Moscow
Yusuf Raisov (19-2) and Eduard Vartanyan (23-3) will meet in the semifinals of the Absolute Championship Akhmat grand prix on Friday….
Yusuf Raisov (19-2) and Eduard Vartanyan (23-3) will meet in the semifinals of the Absolute Championship Akhmat grand prix on Friday.
At the beginning of 2022, the ACA League announced the start of the most prestigious grand prix in the most competitive lightweight with a prize fund of $ 1 million. Eight participants were announced: Russians Raisov, Vartanyan, Ali Bagov, Rashid Magomedov, Kazakhstani Artem Reznikov, South African Alain Ilunga and Brazilian Hacran Dias.
Raisov was the first to reach the semifinals in March at the tournament in Grozny, where he defeated Dias. The fight reached the referee’s decision. All five judges gave the victory to Raisov.
In May, Vartanyan was the second to reach the semifinals of the ACA grand prix.
The Russian defeated South African Ilunga in the main event of the evening ACA 139 in Moscow. The fight ended in the third round with a choke. In July, the third semifinalist was Reznikov, who defeated Davi Ramos by unanimous decision.
The quarterfinal bout of the ACA lightweight grand prix between Russians Bagov and Rashid Magomedov became resonant. Before the fifth round, ACA founder Mairbek Khasiev entered the cage. He disqualified the fighters for passive combat. Before the third round, the referee warned the fighters to behave more actively. Immediately before the fifth round, the warning was duplicated. But Khasiev decided to withdraw the fighters from the fight. Later, the organization decided to bring Andrey Koshkin to the grand prix, who will become a rival in the semifinal fight with Reznikov in December.
The long-awaited first semifinal of the lightweight grand prix will be held in Moscow on Friday. Russian Raisov will meet with compatriot Vartanyan. Yusuf’s professional record has 19 wins and 2 losses. Vartanyan has 23 wins with 4 defeats.
The co-main battle will be a powerful confrontation between two of Russia’s best strikers: “MMA Tsar Cannon” Andrey Goncharov (17-3) vs. “Bounty Hunter” Bibert Tumenova (11-2).