Story
Marif Pirayev and Nariman Abbasov – really two very tough lightweights, but neither of them fight in such a way that we think they are world-class athletes. Over the past 3-4 years, Abbasov has beaten quite a few notable opponents pretty hard while defending the Fight Nights championship belt. Former fan of the “Players” group Mikhail Gogitidze, European champion in freestyle wrestling Shamil Amirov, and even Khabib Nurmagomedov’s senior comrade Shamil Zavurov understood this.
Piraev at one point had a 27-2 record, but those numbers couldn’t be monetized. Piraev began to come more often to YouTube shows devoted to battles. Turned these shows into a kind of ambassador for professional MMA. And most importantly – earned not only money, but also popularity.
Kamil Hajiyev in 2022 decided to reunite them for the title AMC Fight Nights. And it immediately became clear that the show would turn out. First, Marif needed to gain weight. Second, we really didn’t know who would win: different styles, but the same size and the same experience in MMA (each has 27 victories). Third, Piraev was already a star within the party, and Azerbaijani enthusiasts gladly applauded Abbasov.
Gadzhiev sent all this in a very compact, but new and shiny palace of Irina Viner in Luzhniki. A minute before the fight, it felt like being inside a rock concert.
“Well, the martial arts industry is alive,” Kamil said after the tournament. – It’s no worse than the football industry, no worse than cinema, show business. It was such a joyful evening, I think everyone who came at 8 p.m. enjoyed it very much. Honestly, the tournament is without a hitch.
– Was it like a few more people in uniform?
I am your critic [за прошлые турниры] accepted. It is clear that these flying people jumping cannot be stopped, but you can force them a little, so today there was SOBR, and OMON, and people in uniform. Spent a little more money. Even if it wasn’t that important, okay? The people who came, they were happy, but behaved correctly.
how they fought
Piraev, used to living with a weight of around 90 kg for a height of 175 cm, with great difficulty and very sunken cheeks, was able to respect the limit of 70 kg. Unfortunately, this was Piraev’s highest achievement in the entire confrontation.
“Even then, I said Marif wouldn’t get a fight in five rounds. He would shoot a three rounder.
I think his seconds took off because they realized there were still three rounds to come, and not one. After 16 kg of cutting, it is impossible to switch to a five-round fight. Impossible unless you are Khabib Nurmagomedov. I think Marif just ran out of gas, – Kamil’s words after the tournament.
Piraev lost the first round. In the second, he endured long streaks, even though he got dangerously out of the way so the referee wouldn’t stop the fight. When the third round was supposed to start, a white towel flew from Piraev’s corner in front of the fighter.
One can only guess why not-so-tall Abbasov beats Russia’s top lightweights with such confidence. He seems to be able to very subtly sense how to punch in MMA gloves so he doesn’t get tired, while attacking often and landing his right hand very hard along an angled path.
Abbasov’s stance is another example that the classic boxing school doesn’t work in MMA. Occasionally he would bring the good with a move similar to the freestyle kick. He did it very efficiently, almost didn’t get tired and didn’t leave space for the opponent.
Piraev left the octagon with very juicy bruises on his face. Kamil said Abbasov’s fee would be four million rubles, while Marif’s would be about the same.
– Magomed Sulumov called Abbasov, maybe something interesting will come out of it? – a question to Gadzhiev.
– Here’s how to get there. It’s our karma to make a loud fight. Clearly this won’t be as high profile a fight as Piraev with Abbasov. But there is also a co-main event. Maybe Takhir Abdullayev will fight with Dima Bikrev for the belt [в категории до 77 кг]. Here you have to sit back and fantasize about how to make it interesting. That’s why Marifu said, “Come.” Because, according to the sporting principle, he didn’t quite deserve it, we all know that. Our mission now is to make interesting fights for a wide audience, otherwise MMA will become such a fight, like in the 90s, and we cannot allow it.
Fight Nights and ASA
It should be explained that the two most discussed leagues currently are AMC Fight Nights and ACA from Grozny. And they have a well-founded opposition. ACA has a clear budget and therefore a good roster of top fighters, with champions capable of beating people in the best leagues in the world: Petr Yan and Zabit Magomedsharipov entered the UFC from ACA (formerly DIA ).
But Fight Nights has a better show. In his ability to strike a balance between tournament and party, Kamil Gadzhiev today seems unrivaled. At the same time, Fight Nights creates intriguing fights almost by hand, on command, on a specific date.
Will Marif still fight with you?
– Of course, Marif is our boy, he fought with us in 2011. He is also part of the show. Looked exactly as we all expected. But Marif can say that now he did not fight at his weight, his weight is 77 kg and he will be interesting there. Because 50 bloggers, 20 winemakers, 30 other bastards came to cheer him today. People really drown for him because he’s such an interesting, cool guy.
“And we are not prohibiting him from fighting elsewhere. We can just give him a non-exclusive contract. And here, for example, he can fight with Maxim Butorin in 77 kg. Both lost, which means that in this battle, one will definitely win.
– It is easy to remember how you and Khabib held a press conference, where there were representatives of Azerbaijan. And it turned out to be a funny dialogue between you: they urged you to hold a tournament in Baku, and you said that there should be some kind of “push” from the host side. And it happened several times. It seems that Azerbaijan is not yet ready to participate financially in the organization of tournaments?
– So far it makes more sense to hold Azerbaijani tournaments in Moscow. Now in Baku you don’t know what you will face: covid restrictions, political affairs. And in Moscow you understand that a thousand Azerbaijanis will come, Nariman is a hero of Moscow.
– Do Azerbaijanis fund tournaments in Moscow?
– Not. Many fans arrive. By buying tickets, they offset part of Abbasov’s expenses.
– Are you considering trying to recruit ASA fighter Alexander Sarnavsky for the title fight? He seems to have terminated his contract with the ASA.
Well, there will be no hype. There will be no such movement. I love Sanya, he’s a good guy, but there won’t be such a thing that everyone goes crazy and runs to buy tickets. 30 people from Omsk will come, and that’s it.
– As for “intercepting” … Our tops remained for a reason. They thought, “Why do we need an ASA, where there will be a deep list and 7-8 people who want our blood?! I fight in the league where I can with the president of the organization [имеет в виду себя] sit down, drink some tea and find out how to organize a cool media battle.” Why should Nariman give up his belt, go to ASA, hopefully for him here. 100-150 girls, football players from the Spartak and Dynamo hockey players won’t come to cheer him on if he fights at ASA, he may not think about it, but he feels it subconsciously.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
