Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – The Middle East’s premier mixed martial arts promotion staged another thrilling double-header over two nights of non-stop action, culminating in history being made as Muhidin Abubaker became the first Somalian champion in the history of mixed martial arts, and UFC veteran Tanner Boser returned to the Octagon in devastating form to pick up his latest TKO finish.
After five rounds of back-and-forth action which took place mostly on the canvas, Muhidin Abubaker (10-1) bagged the interim flyweight title to set-up a mouthwatering unification bout with Brazil’s incumbent Iago Ribeiro (13-3). His opponent at the Space 42 Arena in Abu Dhabi, Victor ‘Sombra’ Nunes (11-6) had no answer to the top control and fluid leg-wrapping of the London-based karateka, whose ground-work is beginning to mark him as a massive talent on the global stage.
The co-main event was a war of attrition between two UFC vets, Tanner Boser (22-10-1) and Vinicius Moreira (14-8). Whilst it was the latter who had moments on the canvas where his submission offence was always a threat, it was Boser who was able to scramble and deploy his patented bombs through the guard to commence a clinic of power pugilism. In the second round Moreira was getting tagged mercilessly with no answer to the pinpoint potency of the Canadian, until finally in the third the referee waved the bout off. Boser then took to the microphone to challenge the promotion’s 205lb champion Tarek Suleiman (13-9) who was cageside on Arabic commentary duties and immediately accepted, setting-up one of several title clashes coming down the pipe.
The event was even more notable with the victorious return of Moscow-based Armenian fan-favourite Martun Mezhlumyan (15-3) who choked-out his Brazilian foe, the BJJ wizard Italo ‘Chipa’ Gomes (13-6) in the third round. UAE Warriors confirmed in Mezhlumyan’s post-fight interview that he will now face Khabib Nurmagomedov’s undefeated prodigy and current lightweight champion Amru Magomedov (9-0) for the belt in a few months time.
The previous evening, UAE Warriors 59 showcased the brightest emerging talents of the Arabian and African continents with a main event featuring the outstanding Palestinian submission specialist Abdul Hussein (13-2) besting Marseille’s Algerian leg-locker Sami Yahia (13-6) in the very first round with a stunning TKO. The co-main event witnessed the successful return of Dricus du Plessis main training partner Diego Bandu (6-2) with an impressive second-round finish of Ares, PFL and DWCS star Islem Masraf (3-2).
MMA fans in the Middle East now look to another double-header next month for UAE Warriors 61 and 62 on the 23rd and 24th of July where an unprecedented slew of belts will be up for grabs, so keep an eye out on all the social media channels for updates and build-up from the continental combat leader.
Official UAE Warriors 59 Results
Lewis Mataya bt Mahmoud El Raouf by Knockout in Rnd 1
Lisa Zimmo bt Chaymae Boudik by Submission in Rnd 1
Fahad Eltahawy bt Elie Farah by TKO in Rnd 3
Flobater Fares bt Hafid Bendari by Unanimous Decision
Ahmed Mando bt Abood AlQaisi by Submission in Rnd 1
Ananias Mulumba bt Amer El Shanshory by Submission in Rnd 1
Mohamed Eldeeb bt Zaman Ismail by Unanimous Decision
Khaled Laallam bt Siyaku Dumiso by Unanimous Decision
Ilias Bulaid vs Rebin Fazil ruled a No Contest in Rnd 1
Omran Chaaban bt Gunther Kalunda Ngunza by Unanimous Decision
Abdullah Boushehri by Cole Henning by Submission in Rnd 1
Diego Bandu bt Islem Masraf by TKO in Rnd 2
Abdul Hussein bt Sami Yahia by TKO in Rnd 1
Official UAE Warriors 60 Results
Ruel Pañales bt Faris Asha by Unanimous Decision
Sukhrobbek Atazhanov bt Murad Ibragimov by Submission in Rnd 1
Rafik-Bek Omarov bt Feng Senwei by TKO in Rnd 1
Michele Oliveira bt Zulfiya Kurbashova by TKO in Rnd 1
Magomed Tuchalov bt Tursunbek Sodikov by Submission in Rnd 1
Romero Cotton bt Marcos Santana by TKO in Rnd 3
Hossein Khorsandi bt Yazeed Hasanain by Unanimous Decision
Gamlet Aslanov bt Shikhikhlas Dzhamalov by Unanimous Decision
Martun Mezhlumyan bt Italo Gomes by Submission in Rnd 3
Vladislav Rudnev bt Piotr Niedzielski by Unanimous Decision
Tanner Boser bt Vinicius Moreira by TKO in Rnd 3
Muhidin Abubakar bt Victor Nunes by Split Decision
Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.
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