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Former UFC veteran Leandro Silva got back to winning ways and upset one of Russia’s most promising lightweights, Islam Makoev, with a hard-fought decision victory in last night’s ACB 73 main event.

ACB 73 took place on Saturday, October 22 at the Centro de Evento Miécimo da Silva in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and marked the Russian promotion’s first foray into the South American market as they continue their rapid global expansion. In what seems to be increasingly common for ACB, the card would suffer numerous pullouts and reshuffles in the fortnight before the event, however, was still packed full of some of Brazil’s best regional talents.

The first round of the main event was a physical and technical affair as both fighters seemed keen to take the action to the mat. Silva would land the first takedown however was forced to pick up and slam his opponent after being precariously close to being caught in a triangle/armbar position. When the fight went back to standing, both fought with tight and swift combinations in tit-for-tat exchanges to close out the round.

Silva would start to take control of the fight in the second stanza as he locked in a guillotine attempt which Makoev was fortunate to escape from. The exchanges on the feet were even again until Makoev attempted to pull guard. This was a mistake by the Russian as Silva would capitalised with elbows from the top and opened a nasty cut on the forehead of Makoev with the round ending with both fighters soaked in claret.

The final round was a slow, sluggish affair on account of both fighters having little left in the tank. The Brazilian used his experience to maintain dominant position, whether it be on the ground or with Makoev against the cage, and put an exclamation mark on his performance by landing another vicious elbow in the closing seconds which opened up a second cut on his opponent’s head.

Now training out of American Top Team, the win moves Silva to 2-1 in his ACB run which started with a first round KO of Pat Healy at ACB 51.

Meanwhile, Makoev seen his 5-fight unbeaten streak broken as he returned from a one-year absence and suffered his first loss since a 2014 defeat at ACB 5 to current lightweight champion Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov.

Eduardo stretches win streak to six with split decision victory

After a pair of recent victories in M-1 Global, Carlos Eduardo would enjoy another successful night as he stretched his win streak to six with a split decision win over fellow Brazilian and short notice replacement Fabio Silva.

Making his ACB debut, Eduardo was originally scheduled to headline this card however his opponent, UFC veteran Daniel Sarafian, was forced to pull out due to injury.

Former Bellator fighter Eduardo controlled the first round, landing the better strikes and dominating on the mat however Silva would keep the fight on the feet in round two. This gave the ageing journeyman a way back into the fight as he backed Eduardo up with a snapping jab and lunging combinations to make it all square going into the final frame.

Although Silva continued to march forward, Eduardo would find his composure and his strikes found the mark far more frequently in the last round. With Silva threatening to get back into the fight, Eduardo showed his intelligence by going for the takedown and staying active on top for the final two minuted to see out a close win.

Lack of star power made up for by quality finishes at ACB 73

Although ACB have suffered from miserable luck as of late, with both ACB 72 and ACB 73 having been decimated by injuries, the lack of big name stars has not affected the quality of fighting. With plenty of highlight reel finishing on show, it’s only fair that we run through some of the best performances from last night’s event.

Former featherweight title challenger Adlan Bataev enjoyed his first fight since moving up to 155lbs as he scored KO of the night over Adilson Ramos with a big one-two combination that instantly dropped the young Brazilian.

In the bantamweight division, multiple-time BJJ champion Ary Farias showed just how a back take should be done with one of the slickest transitions you are likely to see to set up his winning rear-naked choke over Nilton Gaviaovs.

ACB 73 Results

Lightweight Main Event: Leandro Silva def. Islam Makoev via Decision (Unanimous)

Light-Heavyweight Bout: Carlos Eduardo def. Fabio Silva via Decision (Split)

Featherweight Bout: Adlan Bataev def. Adilson Ramos via KO (Punches) (Round 1 – 1:46)

Welterweight Bout: Roberto Neves def. Adriano Capitulino via Decision (Unanimous)

Featherweight Bout: Maike Linhares Galvao Amorim def. Rustam Asuev via TKO (Corner Stoppage) (Round 1 – 5:00)

Welterweight Bout: Wendell De Oliveira Marques def. Joao Carvalho via Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Bout: Imran Abaev def. Luiz Jorge Dutra Jr. via Decision (Unanimous)

Flyweight Bout: Josiel Silva def. Kurban Gadzhiev via Decision (Unanimous)

Bantamweight Bout: Ary Farias def. Nilton Gaviaovs via Submission (Rear-naked Choke) (Round 2 – 1:17)

Flyweight Bout: Jose Maria Tome def. Bruno Rodrigues via KO (Punch to the body) (Round 2 – 2:00)

Lightweight Bout: Herbert Batista def. Viskhan Magomadov via TKO (Corner Stoppage) (Round 2 – 5:00)

Welterweight Bout: Andre Ricardo def. Renato Valente Alves via TKO (Punches) (Round 3 – 3:19)

Middleweight Bout: Gregory Rodrigues def. Umar Gaisumov via TKO (Punches) (Round 1 – 2:43)

Bantamweight Bout: Taigro Costa def. Valdines Silva via Decision (Unanimous)

Flyweight Bout: Alan De Castro def. Shamil Akhmaev via TKO (Elbows) (Round 3 – 3:00)

Featherweight Bout: Antonio Carlos Ribeiro def. Fabiano Fernandes via Decision (Unanimous)

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