23 September 2019

WWFC 15: All championship belts are left in Ukraine

On September 21, the WWFC 15 international mixed martial arts tournament took place at the Kyiv Palace of Sports. There were 14 fights during that event, including 4 as the title ones.

Sergey Guzev (Ukraine) — Gzhegozh Shivy (Poland)

The main highlight of the WWFC 15 was the second WWFC champion title defence battle of Sergey Guzev in the weight class of up to 84 kg. In the hexagon, the Ukrainian fought against Gzhegozh Shivy (Poland). That was the first fight of the Sumy resident after an incredibly exciting match against Wagner Silva (Brazil) in June 2018. This time he again had to go through the hardest 5-round marathon. Relying on his superior physical strength, Gzhegozh Shivy tried to grapple Sergey in a clinch and push him to the fence, making the Ukrainian fighter exhausted and using elbow-striking techniques in the short range fight. Guzev executed several takedowns. However, the opponent did not allow him to solo in the par terre either tying his hands or coming back to the stand-up fighting. In the third round, the champion struck some blows, shocking the Pole twice with oncoming hits to the head, but in both cases Shivy managed to recover quickly. The result of a tense, debilitating fight, which made both combatants almost exhausted and with serious cuts, was an individual decision of the judges in favour of Guzev: 48-47, 48-47 and 47-48.

Svetlana Gotsyk (Ukraine) — Magdalena Sormova (Czechia) II

The revenge of the Ukrainian “Phoenix Bird” Svetlana Gotsyk and Magladena Sormova (Czechia) was the most anticipated event of the tournament for the fans, and it met their wildest expectations. Prior to this match, the opponents met at WWFC 11 in June 2018. In that fight, Sormova won the first round. The revenge of the combatants did not last long. Magdalena, as usual, went ahead, keeping the Ukrainian fighter at a distance with front kicks. Soon after the start gong, Sormova took a dominant position in the par terre, attacking Svetlana with blows to the head. Gotsyk managed to get up, but the stand-up fighting failed and the Ukrainian was again under her opponent. Nevertheless, this time Svetlana was able to take away Sormova’s hand, which could not lose the grip, even having raised Gotsyk and throwing her violently on the floor with her back. After that, Svetlana brought the hold to its logical end – the classic arm lock forced Magdalena to surrender, and the WWFC champion title in the weight division of up to 52 kg came back to “Phoenix Bird”.

Kirill Gorobets (Ukraine) — Rinat Sayakbayev (Kyrgyzstan)

One of the most original and spectacular WWFC fighters, Kirill Gorobets (Ukraine), has conquered a new frontier, having won the title of interim league champion in the weight division of up to 70 kg. Rinat Sayakbayev (Kyrgyzstan), his opponent in the battle for the vacant belt, immediately started a bout with ‘a trump card’, relying on his striking power. However, being aware of Rinat’s main ‘weapon’, Kirill was careful and managed to promptly avoid his dangerous lunges. Gorobets attacked less often, but did it much more accurately, securing his advantage with takedowns and dominance on the floor. The situation was reiterated in each round up to the third one that influenced the outcome. Gorobets was again on the top in the par terre and completed the fight in a non-trivial way, using a rare chokehold with an exotic name “Peruvian tie”. Kirill’s next goal is a fight with a reigning champion Mikhail Odintsov.

Alyona Rassokhina (Ukraine) — Elaine Lil (Brazil)

The first title match in the tournament for the vacant championship belt in the weight class of up to 48 kg turned out to be fleeting. Alyona Rassokhina (Ukraine) resolutely attacked her Brazilian opponent, alternating low kicks and punches from hand to head. Lil failed to react promptly to Alyona’s attacks and decided to seek salvation in the clinch, thus bringing a sad outcome for herself. In her personal style, Rassokhina threw her opponent on the floor over the thigh, and in the par terre she gripped her hand in painful hold (arm lock grip), after which Lil could only surrender in favour of the new world champion.

Hussein Askhabov (Luxembourg) — Louise Filho (Brazil)

Hussein Askhabov, a former WWFC champion in the weight division of up to 61 kg, fought against Louise Filho (Brazil) with an additional motivation – right before this fight, his twin brother Hassan unexpectedly lost to another representative of one of the strongest MMA schools. “Innocent” Filho had to suffer from it, because vigorous actions of Hussein actually crushed him down. Askhabov knocked his opponent down with a low kick and struck several blows to his head on the cover. And when Louise tried to get to his feet, he threw him on the floor with a bend beautifully and firmly. The Brazilian fighter failed to recover because Askhabov masterfully conducted a chokehold with a “guillotine”, forcing Filho to surrender.

Elismar Lima da Silva (Brazil) — Hassan Askhabov (Luxembourg)

Khasan Askhabov, a former WWFC champion in the weight division of up to 66 kg, entered the hexagon for the first time since March 2018, when in one of the main fights of the WWFC 10 tournament he succeeded to defend his title from Mikhail Odintsov’s attacks (Belarus). This time the match was non-title, but his opponent Elismar Lima da Silva (Brazil) turned out to be much more competitive. It was obvious in the first round that it would be not easy for Hassan to fight. He started a bout with confidence, pushed himself to the Brazilian’s feet, brought him down and attacked with a chokehold from behind, but Elismar somehow inexplicably escaped from the hold. Soon, the Brazilian was on top in the par terre, and Askhabov had to show the skills of defence dropping his vis-a-vis from full mount. The second 5-minute bout turned into a real nightmare for Hassan – soon after the start Elismar used a triangle choke, thus immobilizing Askhabov in the par terre for a long time, and in the second half he used a murderous, seemingly choking hold from behind. In both cases, Hassan did not surrender, showing miracles of endurance. Actually, Askhabov had to endure in the final round, relying on his willpower. So, he managed to reach the final gong, but the victory deservedly went to the Brazilian fighter based on the unanimous decision of the judges.

Elnur Veliyev (Ukraine) — Khvicha Koridze (Georgia)

Elnur Veliyev, a multiple winner of the world championships in combat sambo and MMA as part of the Ukrainian national team, made his successful debut under the auspices of WWFC, leaving no chance to Khvicha Koridze, a talented opponent from Georgia. The latter tried to act effectively, but his effectiveness was insufficient. Veliyev made his opponent’s stay in the hexagon uncomfortable to the maximum. Most of the time, Koridze had to spend in par terre in the position of the defender. Despite the fact that Khvicha managed to avoid a serious loss by fettering the Ukrainian dominant, Elnur’s superiority did not raise any questions. The logical unanimous decision of the judges was in favour of Veliyev.

WWFC 15: The results of all WWFC 15 tournaments:

Main Card
Sergey Guzev (19-3; Ukraine) – SD 5 (on points by an individual decision of the referees) – Gzhegozh Shivy (13-4; Poland)
Svetlana Gotsyk (12-4; Ukraine) – SBM 1 (painful hold) – Magdalena Sormova (8-1; Czechia)
Kirill Gorobets (8-1; Ukraine) – SBM 3 (chokehold) – Rinat Sayakbayev (11-6-1; Kyrgyzstan)
Alyona Rassokhina (11-4; Ukraine) – SBM 1 (painful hold) – Elaine Lil (7-7; Brazil)

Prelimenary Card
Hussein Askhabov (19-0; Luxembourg) – SBM 1 (chokehold) – Louise Filho (10-4; Brazil)
Elismar Lima da Silva (19-7; Brazil) – UD 3 (on points by unanimous decision of the referees) – Hassan Askhabov (20-1; Luxembourg)
Elnur Veliyev (8-1-1; Ukraine) – UD 3 (on points by unanimous decision of the referees) – Khvicha Koridze (1-0; Georgia)
Aleksey Polishchuk (5-2; Ukraine) – SBM 1 (chokehold) – Ruslan Mamedov (7-4; Azerbaijan)
Anatoliy Zhurakovskiy (3-0; Ukraine) – ТКО 1 (technical knockout) – Andrey Zubenko (2-2; Ukraine)
Alexandru Insuratsel (6-3; Moldova) – UD 3 (on points by unanimous decision of the referees) – Yegor Lamaka (1-2; Ukraine)
Eduard Lazarevich (4-1; Belarus) – UD 3 (on points by unanimous decision of the referees) – Nazar Lutskiv (1-0; Ukraine)

Early Prelims
Andrey Barkar (1-0; Ukraine) – SBM 1 (chokehold) – Dmitriy Voznyuk (3-0; Ukraine)
Maksim Sergeyev (10-11-1; Ukraine) – КО 1 (knockout) – Artyom Matyash (0-0-1; Ukraine)
Dmitriy Yatsko (0-0; Ukraine) – SBM 1 (painful hold) – Bakhtiyar Rustamov (1-1; Ukraine)