Abu Dhabi: Booed in to the ring by the crowd, 41-year-old American Paul Buentello not only had the last laugh, but also made everyone stand and acknowledge his tremendous fighting ability in the heavyweight MMA action at the Abu Dhabi Warriors Championship event here on Saturday.
Buentello’s opponent was Cameroon’s Rameau Sokoudjou, 10 years younger than him, and he looked as if he would tear the former apart in no time.
The American’s lazy walk on to the floor with all his flab dangling gave everyone present at the spectacular IPIC Arena a feeling that the big fight of the evening was a total mismatch.
However, Buentello, who took up MMA to prove his detractors wrong, had other plans.
“I’m only in the sport to show that even fat people can fight and will be going for a knockout,” is what Buentello had said on the eve of the encounter and he indeed stuck to it. The tactics looked simple — nothing extravagant, keep moving towards your opponent, force him on to the offensive, wear him out and then make your move.
Sokoudjou, with matted coils of hair like the movie character Predator, tried everything he could by moving in circles and also made sure that he never had his hands off his face. It was clear that Buentello, with the boxing stance, was eyeing that one opportunity — a punch to the face, and a connection was enough to send Sokoudjou to the floor in the first round. With that, the message was clear and excitement filled the air.
Round two saw Buentello making surges and rarely allowing Sokoudjou a breather. The American withstood several blows on his left leg and, once into the third round, he was all over Sokoudjou. A series of punches to the face and Sokoudjou was knocked down and, despite showing the mettle to get back on his feet, a left jab from Buentello was enough for the referee to intervene and stop the fight.
“I will be back here in December to give you all another thrilling fighting experience,” Buentello boasted after the bout to the roar of the spectators.
There was disappointment, however, for the home fans as local boy Ahmad Al Darmaki went down fighting to Ukrainian opponent Artiyom Gorodynets.
Al Darmaki clearly had the upper hand in the first round, but he withered away after being shown a yellow card for elbowing Gorodynets on the head. The bout ended in the second round after the Ukrainian went for an armbar, forcing Al Darmaki to resign.
Al Darmaki’s trainer Jamil Ahmad complained that they were told elbowing vertically was not allowed but it was okay to elbow horizontally while grappling on the floor.
“We confirmed this again with the officials just before the fight, and then they caution my fighter for doing something completely legal and that put him off. He was winning the fight when the referee stopped it,” Ahmad fumed.
There were plenty of Romanians in the crowd and Ion Pascu did not disappoint. It took him just one minute and 43 seconds of the first round to tame Josip Perica of Croatia by technical knockout.
Pascu also had success here three years ago in jiu-jitsu — winning in the white category at the World Championships.
“This has been a happy hunting ground for me. I hope they will now invite me in December as well,” said a jubilant Pascu.
In another bout, Max Nunes of Sweden beat Fabricio Monteiro of Brazil with a vicious knee to his rib in just 43 seconds, forcing the latter to immediately announce his retirement from professional MMA.
