Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship (ADFC) has announced the main event fights for round two of the Dh1,000,000 winner-takes-all grand prix.
The semi-final will be Oliveira versus Wain and Abdurahimov versus Sokoudjou. The Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship Round 2 will be held on October 22.
Last May Abu Dhabi witnessed the birth of a regional phenomenon.
Mixed martial arts was no longer a foreign import, but a domestic product.
Riding the giant mixed martial arts wave sweeping the world, the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship saw its first light of day as the premier homemade mixed martial arts promotion in the region.
The fight card for Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship round two's championship will see Pan American champion, Brazilian Marcos Oliveira, who came off a stunning 17 second KO of Johan Romming in round one last May, go up against British Total Combat Ultimate Force Heavyweight champion Neil Wain.
Wain had a battle with Polish Powerhouse Przemyslaw Mysiala before finishing him late in the second round.
Five-time Russian champion in Wushu-sanda, Shamil Abdurahimov, who dominated Jeff Monson in round one, will face off in the cage versus Cameroonian 2001 US Judo Open champion Thierry "The African Assassin" Sokoudjou. Sokoudjou will be looking to make up for his controversial round one win against American wrestler Dave Herman.
Legal or illegal
Herman, who was in total domination of the fight, was disqualified for landing illegal knees to the head of the downed Sokoudjou.
In many mixed martial arts franchises, it is considered illegal to knee the head of an opponent who is on the ground.
However it is legal in the Japanese Sengoku Championships that Herman fights in.
Both fighters had accepted the fight with only two weeks' notice after late injuries to two fighters left vacancies in the Grand Prix.
The three-round promotion is composed both of championship fights — fights in which the fighters are competing for the grand prize — and side fights, Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship's special platform for up-and-coming fighters from the region to exhibit their skills and talents.
For round two, the organisers are compiling a new roster of side fighters that will increase opportunities for regional fighters to exhibit their talents.
