There's glory outside the cage
Brazilians celebrate after Oliveira defeats former Heavyweight Champion Wain
Abu Dhabi : The night may have started in controversy when Brazilian Luciano Ferrera was robbed of the win as the judges awarded a split decision to Emirati Ali Mohammad Ali Ahli.
But it was the Brazilians who celebrated in the cage on Friday night as underdog Marcos Oliveira defeated the former Total Combat Ultimate Force Heavyweight Champion Neil Wain and advanced to the final of the Dh1 million Grand Prix.
Wain dominated the standing game and had Oliveira on the run a few times, but the Brazilian executed his game plan perfectly. Oliveira's strength is his ground game and that's just what he used to nullify Wain's heavy hands.
Oliveira managed to execute just about every take down he attempted, and keep the fight on the ground.
The fight went the distance and the judges gave a unanimous decision to the Brazilian who broke down in tears of joy.
More surprises
Oliveira celebrated his win by proposing to his long-time girlfriend in the cage. She said yes, and the wedding will be in Abu Dhabi next year.
In the other semi-final fight, Cameroonian Thierry Sokoudjou once again had a disappointing performance. Shamil Abdurahinov was too much for the African Assassin to handle. Abdurahimov beat Sokoudjou for three rounds until finally winning by Technical Knock Out (TKO).
Once again the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship (ADFC) did not disappoint fight fans.
An exciting line up of preliminary fights included Emirati Hassan Al Rumaithi winning by unanimous decision. Russian Malik Omarov, fighting out of Dubai, won again by Knock Out with only eight seconds left in the first round.
Brazilian Michel Maia had a back and forth grappling match with Iran's Mohammad Mansoori before finally tapping him out with a rear naked choke late in the first round. Canada's Vaughn Anderson made short work of the Maratha Warrior Bhupesh Kamble, winning by TKO early in the first round.
Highlights
Anderson's win was a hollow one as he broke two bones in his left hand.
One of the highlights of the night was UK's Ed Smith manhandling the Iraqi Karate Champion Rafat Shawe. The Smasher tamed the Lion of Babylon who seemed surprised that he was getting hit. At one point Shawe was literally running away from Smith who spent most of the fight searching the cage for the Iraqi.
Smith finally put Shawe out of his misery by tapping him out with a guillotine choke.
The win earned Smith submission of the night.
With such great fights, the ADFC has already set it self up as one of the leading Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) franchises in the region.
ADFC Round 3 is scheduled for March 2011, where Abu Dhabi Combat Club's Oliveira will face off with Russia's Shamil Abdurahimov for Dh1,000,000 and the ADFC Heavyweight title.
