What happened?
The ACA League decided to hold a Grand Prix of eight lightweights (70.3 kg) with a prize pool of one million dollars. Famous fighters in Russia met in one of the quarter-finals Ali Bagov and Rashid Magomedov (UFC and PFL veteran). Even before the fight, Bagov and Magomedov spoke warmly to each other, gained weight and entered the duel.
Four rounds at once frankly did not try to cause damage. Even the referee in the cage stepped in, urging the fighters to be more active. Before the fifth round, the ASV (currently ACA) promotion founder stepped into the cage Mairbek Khasiev and stopped the fight. Khasiev declared the fight invalid and the fighters were disqualified.
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How Khasiev explained the decision
– We saw a 100% agreed fight between the participants. Such things can’t be done, and we won’t.. As expected, there was a disqualification. They will certainly not participate in the Grand Prix, but we will decide on their future presence in the championship. It’s already our right – the contract has been made, we haven’t breached it, and if so, then we have every right to dictate the terms. I advise, as someone who has been through a lot, to adhere to several principles. One of them is to keep the word you gave to someone.
– How will the Grand Prix evolve in this case?
– My pulse hasn’t increased as much in a long time as it does now, when I was sitting upstairs watching this fight. The first round – I thought it was a shootout. The second round – I decided they’ve been shooting something for a long time. The third round – I have already realized that this is some kind of agreement. We’ll see how it goes. Give us at least two or three days. Most likely there will be another participant, we will think of someone. In extreme cases, we will find serious charges for the fighter. Maybe he’ll just take the belt.
Maybe we will choose a fighter and invite him to fight, but I would like to fight. As two fighters fight, and the winner goes to Artem Reznikov (the first semi-finalist. – “”). We will choose a fighter – the calls will begin: take this one, take this one.
Do you plan to change the rules in any way after such a fight?
– With this fight, several options are possible according to my understanding. The first is the contract fight. The second option is that they somehow know each other closely. And the last option is a religious moment.
If we’re talking about the Islamic moment, then come on, guys, the jahiliya (in Islam, the designation of the primitive rudeness and ignorance that precedes the adoption of Islam. – Editor’s note), we talk about it as that. If you are leaving from the Islamic moment, then leave this sport.
If you have friends, show them before the ring or after them. If you show them there, you’re fooling those who came to watch your fight, you’re fooling the league. I take that as hypocrisy.
OK? It doesn’t fit into any frame. If fighters do this in the future, it will be the same. We are pretty serious people and we expect everyone to treat us the same. It is not in vain that I said that we were the second world league. They blame me for it, but they blame those who envy us or reject us in some way. But we do our job. Wait 4-5 months, and in November of this year we will surprise you with a very serious event. You will be very surprised.
– Ali Bagov’s brother said that Ali would have won earlier than expected in the fifth round, – says the correspondent of “Vestnik MMA” Mikhail Kraimer.
– If so, if only. I don’t need to hear what could have happened in the fifth round. You have to act at the right time. I’m sure this top ten hit from us will continue to be loathsome to everyone.
– It seems that at the level of all the rules, it is not an entirely legitimate act.
– We often did something that went beyond the set of rules, and in 9 out of 10 cases, we placed in the top ten. If time could be reversed, I would do the same. It’s a pity that he wasn’t directly in the hall, but upstairs, chatting with serious people. With peripheral vision I looked at the first round, then the second, I only see the same photo. In general, a spoon is good for dinner.
– Bagov said that if he was not paid, he …
– For God’s sake, all the best. We will not pay any fees. People came to see a good fight, we spent a lot of money, and we actually got tricked. These are their problems. We don’t hold a single fighter, the doors are open for both entry and exit.
– They can write on the league that decisions are made by one person – you.
— I make 99% of the decisions because I am responsible. Even if the decision is wrong, I won’t say it’s someone else’s fault. I take my responsibilities and I will continue to do so. Let them say what they want. As long as they are not offended.
– Did you manage to speak with any of the fighters: with Ali or Rashid?
– Not. But there’s nothing personal here, it’s a sport. Break our agreements – good luck to you, all the best.
– You have entered the cage and the media coverage of the league has increased a lot, maybe you should give at least small interviews after each tournament.
– It happened spontaneously. I watched the fights upstairs, went downstairs, was a little short-circuited, and my son called me, “There’s kind of a mess, they’re messing around.” I say, “I’m just going down.” It happened spontaneously. Reaching the top ten – good. I could have missed it, I could have tripped and fallen, there would also have been media coverage, everyone would have cheered: “Hooray! Mayrbeck has fallen.”
– You might be interested in replacing Marif Piraev, a contender for the Fight Nights belt.
– I respect Marif, but it’s not interesting. This is not the case.
– Bagov said he initially expected to fight with Mansur Barnawi, but he was not asked and he fought with Magomedov, who he would not want to fight.
“But if he knew Rashid was signing, then he could refuse the Grand Prix. I can’t understand – if you step in one direction, knowing that someone is stepping in the same direction, who you can’t fight, then why do it?
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.
