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April 15, 2007
(St. Petersburg, Russia) - The Russian Red Devils capitalized on their
comrades' support to emerge victorious from Russia's ICE Palace Arena on Saturday, April 14th in the most anticipated pay-per-view event of the year,
BodogFight: Fedor Emelianenko vs Matt Lindland, Clash of the
Nations.
The star-studded mixed martial arts card lived up to its billing, with Fedor
Emelianenko, the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world taking on the #1 ranked middleweight, Matt "The Law"
Lindland, in the main event. In the end, the sold out crowd, which included Russian President Vladimir
Putin, got what they wanted, as their beloved champion improved to 26-1 after forcing his brave American challenger to tap out in the very first round.
Lindland, now 20-5, started strong by opening a huge gash over
Emelianenko's right eye with his first punch. Controversy followed though, as the 30 year old Russian then used the ropes to prevent and reverse an attempted takedown.
Once on top of his opponent, Emelianenko sealed the victory with an inescapable arm bar.
Lindland refused to make excuses after the fight, although the 2000 Olympic silver medalist wrestler was adamant about the fact that he would like a rematch.
"I absolutely, absolutely would like a rematch," said
Lindland. "I'm not saying the outcome would have been any different but
that's a much different fight if the referee does what he's supposed to and I wind up on top and am able to utilize my skills there."
After the fight, Emenianenko's gloves were auctioned off to raise money for the Calvin Ayre Foundation, with proceeds donated to a local orphanage.
In other MMA action, Emelianenko's brother, Aleksander, also saw his arm raised after pummeling
Nevada's Eric Pele in a super-heavyweight bout. Both fighters now stand at 10-3. Other Russian victories included Roman Zentsov over
France's Kristof Midoux, Eric Oganov over American Derrick Noble, and Amar Suloev scoring a devastating first round knockout over American Andy Foster.
The upset of the night saw Nick "The Goat" Thompson lift the Bodog Fight welterweight title from former champ Eddie Alvarez. The product of
Philadelphia's famous Fight Factory was TKO'd in the second round, just moments after the outspoken Thompson told legendary ringside announcer Bob "the Colonel" Sheridan he was about to "kick into third gear". True to his word Thompson improved to 31-9, while Alvarez suffers his first defeat in ten fights.
American Josh "Buffalohead" Curran trampled Jarno Nurminen of Finland.
Canada's Bill "The Butcher" Mahood tenderized American Steve
Steinbeiss, whose brother Ray outfought Russia's Dmitry
Samoilov. Brazil's Rodrigo Damm got past American Santino
DeFranco, while Damm's compatriot, Jorge Santiago, upset local favorite Andrei
Semenov.
In women's 135 pound action, American Julie Kedzie temporarily silenced the Russian crowd with a TKO victory over Julia
Berezekova, while fellow American Amanda Buckner scored a unanimous decision over Hitomi Akano of Japan.
Visit www.BodogFight.com/ppv/ for full details, and tune in to
ION Television Tuesday, April 17 at 11 p.m. / 10 p.m. Central as the BodogFight TV series returns to the sunny shores of Costa Rica for a whole new season! |
