Arbi Agujev made short work of British MMA veteran Andy DeVent in front of his home fans in the main event of ACB 60 when he finished the fight within a minute with powerful knee strikes. Also on the card, former UFC contender Zach Makovsky laboured to a tough submission victory over Josiel Silva in the flyweight division.
ACB 60 took place on Saturday, May 13 at the Hallmann Dome in Vienna, Austria with a short 12-fight card composed of some local Austrian talent as well as established ACB stars.
In the main event, Agujev (29-7) came out aggressive and it paid off immediately as he landed two hard knees to the face of DeVent (15-11) in the clinch. The Brit immediately slumped as Agujev followed up with strikes before the referee stopped the welterweight contest at the 21-second mark.
Arbi Agudjiev KO's (knees) Andy Devent in anout 20s of 1R #ACB60 pic.twitter.com/jaOYhgNUTr
— Jolassanda (@Jolassanda) May 13, 2017
The Russian, who fights out of Vienna, bounced back from two poor performances in the past year. A controversial “no contest” with Patrik Kincl at ACB 52, which had been overturned by the promotion as they ruled it was an early stoppage by the referee and a knockout loss to Anatoly Tokov at ACB 38.
UFC veteran Makovsky struggles to submission victory over Silva
The most anticipated fight by many fans ahead of ACB 60 was the debut of big name signing Zach Makovsky as he made his debut for the promotion against Brazilian prospect Josiel Silva in Austria.
Makovsky (20-8) struggled despite being the overwhelming favourite coming into the fight. The young Brazilian’s awkward style posed a problem as he swatted away the takedowns from the veteran and landed painful strikes in the clinch. Silva’s (7-2) gritty performance would see him take the first two rounds of the fight as the 26-year-old looked to be on his way to a shock win with a strong grappling performance.
With it all to do in Round three, “Fun-Size” pulled out the game-changing moment he so desperately needed when he caught Silva in a guillotine choke early in the round. The American locked his hands and forced the tap marking his ACB debut with a submission finish.
The 23-year-old’s win gets his young career back on track after three successive defeats to some of the world’s top flyweights in the UFC.
Former ONE champion Svirid drops split decision to talented grappler Eskiev
The evening’s co-main event threw up a middleweight grappling battle as Ali Eskiev (7-1) stretched his win streak to seven-straight with a split decision victory over former ONE Middleweight Champion Igor Svirid (11-5).
The Fight Club Berkut product dominated “Lionheart” on the ground for the duration of rounds one and two, smothering him out of the fight and sticking to his wrestling fundamentals.
The second round however belonged to the Kazakh former champion as he worked towards a rear-naked choke and was close not to secure it. Svirid was eventually swept by his Russian opponent where the round followed the pattern of the rest.
Elsewhere on the card, local favourite Ismail Naurdiev (15-1) scored a devastating body kick knockout over UFC and Cage Warriors alumnus Benny “Blanco” Alloway (19-8).
Ismail Naurdiev beautiful body kick KO (vs. Ben Alloway ) #ACB60 pic.twitter.com/kMxfCi5TXr
— Jolassanda (@Jolassanda) May 13, 2017
The Australian was on the back foot from the get-go as Naurdiev would put on the pressure. Alloway would fall victim to a low blow from an errant kick from his opponent however he was still unable to find his rhythm after the restart.
Naurdiev would land a crushing body kick to the solar plexus of Alloway, who immediately crumpled to the floor and was saved from absorbing any further damage by the fast actions of the referee.
Also, earlier in the night, Mirko Burusic (10-6) was forced to break the arm of Burak Kizilirmak (7-2) before the referee would stop the fight as the young Austrian-Turk refused to tap despite the armbar submission being locked in deep.
Marko Burusic just destroyed someone's arm at #ACB60. Completely dislocated.
Frank Mir: "From one arm-breaker to another, good job buddy." pic.twitter.com/vwDZ7Vtidl
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 13, 2017
ACB 60 Results
Welterweight Bout: Arbi Agujev def. Andy DeVent via KO (Knees) (0:21 – Round 1)
Middleweight Bout: Ali Eskiev def. Igor Svirid via Decision (Split) (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Lightweight Bout: Shamil Nikaev def. Aurel Pirtea via Decision (Unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight Bout: Ismail Naurdiev def. Ben Alloway via KO (Body Kick) (2:24 – Round 1)
Flyweight Bout: Zach Makovsky def. Josiel Silva via submission (Guillotine) (1:08 – Round 3)
Welterweight Bout: Rafal Lewon def. Tamirlan Dadaev via Decision (Split) (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lightweight Bout: Herdeson Batista def. Rasul Yakhyaev via Decision (Unanimous) (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Welterweight Bout: Marko Burusic def. Burak Kizilirmak via submission (Armbar) (Round 1)
Middleweight Bout: Roland Cambal def. Markus Di Gallo via TKO (Doctors Stoppage) (3:07 – Round 2)
Featherweight Bout: Islam Isaev def. Luiz Nogueira via Decision (Unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight Bout: Arbi Mejidov def. Ioan Vranceanu via Decision (Unanimous) (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight Bout: Ludovit Klein def. Ahmed Abdulkadyrov via submission (Guillotine) (Round 2)
