BLC week 5 events and discussion

M-1 Challenge 60 (Wednesday 10:00 AM ET)
Tech-Krep FC (Thursday 12:00 PM ET)
Tachi PF 24 (Thursday 9:00 PM ET)
RFA 28 (Friday 10:00 PM ET)
UFC Fight Night 73 (Saturday 10:00 PM ET)
Pancrase 269 (Sunday 12:00 AM ET)




M-1 Challenge 60
Maro Perak  vs.  Viktor Nemkov-------------Sub-2
Marcin Zontek  vs.  Maxim Futin-------------KO-1
Zulfikar Usmanov  vs. Alexey Makhno------KO-1
Marcelo Costa vs.  Zalimbeg Omarov-------Sub-1
Elias Boudegzdame  vs.  Evgeniy Lazukov---KO-1
Valeriu Mircea  vs.  Raul Tutarauli------------KO-1
Josip Artuković  vs.  Denis Genyuk-----------Sub-1
Javier Fuentes vs.  Aleksandr Sankov-------Sub-1
T. Nadzhafadze vs.  Ivan Zakabunya---------Sub-1
Dmitriy Shvets  vs. Alexandr Kolesnik-------Sub-1


Marcelo Costa  vs.  Zalimbeg Omarov-I'm not overly impressed with Omarov,I think he has a good shot of winning but I have to stick with Costa cause I know what he's capable of.Costa will have a hard time getting td's his td's kinda suck but I think Omarov will possibly even initiate some td's and will be his downfall.I don't think Costa is that great and I think Ronnie Mann quit in their fight giving up his neck,but I think he'll have an advantage on the mat.I also notice Omarov leaves his neck in places he shouldn't,he'll have to fix that vs Costa or maybe get guillotined.Omarov could spawl and brawl or even get a lot of top control to a decision but i'm going to play it safe with Costa.I don't think it ends in the first but i'm going sub-1 cause of Omarov's willingness to leave his neck out.

Elias Boudegzdame  vs.  Evgeniy Lazukov-I think Lazukov takes this but I don't know either very well.Elias is a bit lost on the stand up and Lazukov looks nasty but like vs Macek just fell apart at the end.Well that choke was a wierd one and he kinda just got caught.Lazukov-KO-1

Valeriu Mircea  vs.  Raul Tutarauli-Valeriu is kind of a spaz and makes some technical errors,but he does have some natural talent,pretty athletic,physical and seems to have decent cardio and workrate.He also has another win on his UG record.Totalling up his record from a few different sites it looks like Raul is 8-4.Raul is pretty physical too,wings his punches but has good power and seems quite well rounded while Valeiu seems much greener.I think  Raul beats him up,not sure on method,i'll go KO I guess he has a lot of them.

Josip Artuković  vs.  Denis Genyuk-Josip is quite underwhelming and I was surprised in his loss by ankle lock he showed no urgency or defense to stay out of it.Watching him fold easily when getting hit was pretty pathetic too not to mention his terrible shot attempt to pulling guard attempt a lot and not getting close that judges hate.Josip will be almost a half a foot taller so he's got that going for him.In thier one shared opponent Elexey Efremov he ko'd Josip in the first and beat Denis by decision.Problem is I don't see any footage for Denis,he's only beaten guys with shit records and even got subbed by a 2-7 guy.Atleast Josip has some ok wins.After finding a minute of footage on Denis he doesn't really have any stand up or power,he'll look to grapple and probably get subbed.Both these guys are real bad.

Javier Fuentes  vs.  Aleksandr Sankov-Javier's stand up sucks but his grappling is pretty good.Overall nothing special imo but I have no clue how good Sankov is I don't see any footage.He lost to a guy that was 0-1 and beat an 0-0 guy by dr stoppage so who knows.Atleast Javier lost to an ok fighter and a very good fighter.Fuentes by Sub I guess.


T. Nadzhafadze  vs.  Ivan Zakabunya-Nadz is built like a bull,doesn't exactly fight like one till he get's on top.Really nothing special,his one win the guy inexplicably just crawled to his corner and quit his one loss to UFC's Omari Akhmedov.he's got some more fights on youtube that aren't listed.He won a few that I saw by armbar,obviously his go to move which is interesting because only 2% have him by Sub and his ko win was only cause the guy quit.

Ivan is also mainly a grappler,shoots a fast but shitty double and will pull guard off of that if necessary.He's pretty mobile on the ground,quick back takes and seems pretty good there but nothing great.Ivan get's sloppy once he's tired and that cost him I think getting ko'd with a spinning back kick and the other fight I saw he got triangled .It's a tough fight to call but i'm pretty confident Nadz will be too big and strong and stylistically he won't have any problem getting this fight where he wants it.Both kinda suck but i'll join the 2% and pick Nadz sub.


Dmitriy Shvets  vs.  Alexandr Kolesnik-Assuming it's the same Alexandr Kolesnik he's a BB in Judo with international experience.Shvets has heart but he's very flimsy,physically in there he's like a kid,basically he sucks pretty bad.Alex Sub-1

Tech-Krep FC
Bayzet Khatkhohu  vs.  D. Parubchenko------Sub-2
Aleksandr Pugno  vs.  Ruslan Serikpulov-----Sub-1
Goga Shamatava  vs.  K. Radzhabaliev--------Dec-3
D. Korobeynikov  vs.  Artur Vasilev-----------
Yuri Izotov  vs.  Kiamrian Abbasov------------
M. Berkhamov  vs.  Akhad Mamedov---------
S. Nizamutdinov  vs.  Igor Litoshik------------
Denis Ezuta  vs.  A. Medzhidov-----------------


Bayzet Khatkhohu  vs.  D. Parubchenko-All I could find was a '13 fight with Bayzet,clearly a good grappler,slick sub attempts,not the best top control,ends up on his back at times when he shouldn't,pretty nice td's,passing and grappling in general but pretty much a pure grappler.He get's reveresed way too easy though and often just turtles up.He also doesn't seem to have the best cardio but doesn't "hit a wall" either.The '13 fight I saw he got reversed a bunch of times but overall he won 90% of the fight,his cardio though was a bit of a problem.

Parubchenko's 8 opponents have a combined record of 7-24,with just two of them owning the only wins.Atleast he has finished them all.He really has no business at 170 though,he probably wouldn't even be a big 145'er but Bayzet is a small 170 anyway so big deal.Bigger though for sure.I just watched his fight with Vladimir Egoyan,a fight that isn't on his record,the guy is pretty solid,15-5 and Paru beat him up winning a clear 2 round 10 minute decision.He showed very good wrestling,a solid and tricky stand up game with nice check knees Cerrone style,he beat a lot of cans but after seeing him vs a good guy he's clearly legit.Egoyan is a 145'er and the fight was probably at 155 but either way I think Paru is too good for Bayzet.With Bayzet giving up reversals and his back kind of easy I might go Paru sub...I feel like it'll go the distance,but Bayzet just makes too many mistakes even though he's slick on the mat.Paru Sub-2 or decision imo,i'll take sub-2 considering Bayzet's cardio.

Aleksandr Pugno  vs.  Ruslan Serikpulov-I didn't find any Pugno footage but I watched Ruslan and he's pretty nasty.Possibly a KO here but gotta go Sub.Plus these Alash guy's have a phenomenal thing going on.


Goga Shamatava  vs.  K. Radzhabaliev-Goga is mostly a grappler,much better offensively catching things than he is at being a positional grappler where he really isn't that great.People can pass his guard pretty easy and he holds onto limbs when he shouldn't which allows people to get better positions on him.Something that you see with newer grapplers,yet at the same time he shows some advanced offensive grappling.One of the key's to being a good grappler is the basics,don't run before you can walk,he seems to me like one of those guys.Kinda like  former UFC fighter "Prince" John Albert who has very good offensive bjj but mediocre defensive bjj.

Goga doesn't have much as far as standup,mediocre boxing at best,throws wild spinning backfists and some garbage but does have a pretty nasty spinning back kick with good accuracy and timing.Much like his defensive grappling his tdd is pretty shit,borderline terrible but some of that is his willingness to go to his back.The sad thing is is his sub defense is worse when he is on top then when he's on the bottom.He finally got on top in one of the fights I saw in the 3rd round,his opponent was gassed and still subbed him with a triangle seconds after.

Radz is athletic,very fast and things seem to come natural to him,he's a little wild and overcommits with the left (southpaw) but overall he seems quite well rounded.In his one win he was winning 95% of the first but seemed to get quite tired at the end of the round and was fully locked in a triangle and imo saved by the bell.Clearly a cardio issue but got his second wind very fast and seemed just as fast and crisp to start the second as he was to start the first,surprisingly maybe better.An obvious wrestling background for Radz and some fierce ground and pound I see him beating up Gogo from the top.He doesn't seem to have the bjj to exploit the shitty bjj defense by Goga but I think he'll be just fine beating on him.

Watching Radz more,looking great cardio wise in the 2nd,in the last 30 seconds he again fell apart cardio wise,to the point where he was pretty much useless.I mean,he turned to shit all of a sudden again at the end.In his one win his opponent physically looked quite feeble but he was game,he was better than I expected him to be after looking at him,Radz was just better.In the 3rd Radz came out looking kinda fresh again and seemed to keep it together,probably cause his opponent was tired too but he looked alright in the 3rd.Sprinter type cardio,when he faces higher level competition this will be a huge problem if he hasn't fixed it.

If Radz hits a wall as bad as he did at the end of the first 2 rounds against Goga who can lock stuff up fast he's going to maybe get tapped but overall he's the imo much better fighter.I think he'll get on top land nasty gnp and maybe get a stoppage but I think on this one i'm going to go with a decision,everything considered,Radz not having the best submissions but the wrestling and control to win maybe clearly i'll take decision but a knock out or ref stoppage is a very good possibility also.Radzhabaliev-Dec.


D. Korobeynikov  vs.  Artur Vasilev-


Yuri Izotov  vs.  Kiamrian Abbasov-


M. Berkhamov  vs.  Akhad Mamedov-


S. Nizamutdinov  vs.  Igor Litoshik-


Denis Ezuta  vs.  A. Medzhidov-

Tech-Krep FC

Bayzet Khatkhohu vs. D. Parubchenko------Sub-2

Aleksandr Pugno vs. Ruslan Serikpulov-----Sub-1

Goga Shamatava vs. K. Radzhabaliev--------Dec-3

D. Korobeynikov vs. Artur Vasilev-----------KO-1

Yuri Izotov vs. Kiamrian Abbasov------------KO-2

M. Berkhamov vs. Akhad Mamedov---------Sub-1

S. Nizamutdinov vs. Igor Litoshik------------Sub-1

Denis Ezuta vs. A. Medzhidov----------------Sub-1

Arkadiy Lisin vs. Osman Shahbazov---------KO-1


Andrey Eganian vs. Aram Grigoryan------Sub-1
Denis Ezuta vs. Ruslan Stepanyan--------KO-1
Igor Litoshik vs. Murad Gasanov----------Sub-1

Bayzet Khatkhohu vs. D. Parubchenko-All I could find was a '13 fight with Bayzet,clearly a good grappler,slick sub attempts,not the best top control,ends up on his back at times when he shouldn't,pretty nice td's,passing and grappling in general but pretty much a pure grappler.He get's reveresed way too easy though and often just turtles up.He also doesn't seem to have the best cardio but doesn't "hit a wall" either.The '13 fight I saw he got reversed a bunch of times but overall he won 90% of the fight,his cardio though was a bit of a problem.


Parubchenko's 8 opponents have a combined record of 7-24,with just two of them owning the only wins.Atleast he has finished them all.He really has no business at 170 though,he probably wouldn't even be a big 145'er but Bayzet is a small 170 anyway so big deal.Bigger though for sure.I just watched his fight with Vladimir Egoyan,a fight that isn't on his record,the guy is pretty solid,15-5 and Paru beat him up winning a clear 2 round 10 minute decision.He showed very good wrestling,a solid and tricky stand up game with nice check knees Cerrone style,he beat a lot of cans but after seeing him vs a good guy he's clearly legit.Egoyan is a 145'er and the fight was probably at 155 but either way I think Paru is too good for Bayzet.With Bayzet giving up reversals and his back kind of easy I might go Paru sub...I feel like it'll go the distance,but Bayzet just makes too many mistakes even though he's slick on the mat.Paru Sub-2 or decision imo,i'll take sub-2 considering Bayzet's cardio.


Aleksandr Pugno vs. Ruslan Serikpulov-I didn't find any Pugno footage but I watched Ruslan and he's pretty nasty.Possibly a KO here but gotta go Sub.Plus these Alash guy's have a phenomenal thing going on.



Goga Shamatava vs. K. Radzhabaliev-Goga is mostly a grappler,much better offensively catching things than he is at being a positional grappler where he really isn't that great.People can pass his guard pretty easy and he holds onto limbs when he shouldn't which allows people to get better positions on him.Something that you see with newer grapplers,yet at the same time he shows some advanced offensive grappling.One of the key's to being a good grappler is the basics,don't run before you can walk,he seems to me like one of those guys.Kinda like former UFC fighter "Prince" John Albert who has very good offensive bjj but mediocre defensive bjj.


Goga doesn't have much as far as standup,mediocre boxing at best,throws wild spinning backfists and some garbage but does have a pretty nasty spinning back kick with good accuracy and timing.Much like his defensive grappling his tdd is pretty shit,borderline terrible but some of that is his willingness to go to his back.The sad thing is is his sub defense is worse when he is on top then when he's on the bottom.He finally got on top in one of the fights I saw in the 3rd round,his opponent was gassed and still subbed him with a triangle seconds after.


Radz is athletic,very fast and things seem to come natural to him,he's a little wild and overcommits with the left (southpaw) but overall he seems quite well rounded.In his one win he was winning 95% of the first but seemed to get quite tired at the end of the round and was fully locked in a triangle and imo saved by the bell.Clearly a cardio issue but got his second wind very fast and seemed just as fast and crisp to start the second as he was to start the first,surprisingly maybe better.An obvious wrestling background for Radz and some fierce ground and pound I see him beating up Gogo from the top.He doesn't seem to have the bjj to exploit the shitty bjj defense by Goga but I think he'll be just fine beating on him.


Watching Radz more,looking great cardio wise in the 2nd,in the last 30 seconds he again fell apart cardio wise,to the point where he was pretty much useless.I mean,he turned to shit all of a sudden again at the end.In his one win his opponent physically looked quite feeble but he was game,he was better than I expected him to be after looking at him,Radz was just better.In the 3rd Radz came out looking kinda fresh again and seemed to keep it together,probably cause his opponent was tired too but he looked alright in the 3rd.Sprinter type cardio,when he faces higher level competition this will be a huge problem if he hasn't fixed it.


If Radz hits a wall as bad as he did at the end of the first 2 rounds against Goga who can lock stuff up fast he's going to maybe get tapped but overall he's the imo much better fighter.I think he'll get on top land nasty gnp and maybe get a stoppage but I think on this one i'm going to go with a decision,everything considered,Radz not having the best submissions but the wrestling and control to win maybe clearly i'll take decision but a knock out or ref stoppage is a very good possibility also.Radzhabaliev-Dec.



D. Korobeynikov vs. Artur Vasilev-Koro has pretty fluid standup,he's athletic,decent timing,fast,decent kicks,but he's doesn't have much in the power department and his tdd sucks.He's more athletic then his body type would allude to but at the same time he's probably weaker or as weak as he looks,I see that as a clear issue and couple it with his tdd and the blueprint to beat him seems pretty easy.I would say he probably has a pretty decent karate background.The fight I saw he ended up getting caught in a crucifix and not only did he not do anything to get out,he looked like he had no real grappling instincts.


Artur is 1-2...I really don't remember where I saw him cause I can't find any footage of him but I know I seen him fight before and if I remember correctly he was kind of a stud wrestler.Or maybe I saw him in wrestling,I do watch a lot of amatuer wrestling.I really don't remember where I know him from but I remember thinking he was very impressive.His 1-2 record obviously sucks but one was in 2011 vs a very good guy and the other was against a guy who's only 1-0 but who knows.I know I was impressed with him at some point so i'll take KO-1 Artur.



Yuri Izotov vs. Kiamrian Abbasov-Whenever Izotov punches he rushes forward with a flurry,his legs aren't under him so there isn't much power and he's leaving himself open real bad.He does have some ok power and overall seems like a decent fighter for a lower level,he does have a decent win or two.He's not extremely active and when he rushes forward he often get's thrown off to the side cause he's so off balance,often resulting with him on his back.Really sloppy.He's pretty mediocre overall but does have some strong points,his flurries although sloppy and defensively an issue are pretty effective,his counter left hook isn't bad and has some pop and his entries on his tds are pretty nice even though he doesn't drive through too well.


Kiam is wild and a bit green but he's athletic,fast and shows a little more Muay Thai than i'm used to seeing from fighters in that area.He also just turned 22 so probably a large learning curve each fight.I like Kiam's pace and work rate to outpoint Yuri who just kind of go's with the flow and reacts instead of trying to impose his will minus a few flurries here and there.I think Kiam imposes his will in this fight,I think he's the better natural grappler even if he has less experience grappling,his tdd is very good and I think it'll be a tough fight but Kiam should take it imo.Kiam has improved a lot,I did notice this after now watching older fights that aren't on his record so he'll probably look even better tomorrow.I'm going KO-2 just cause he's relentless,I feel like it'll go a decision but these guys are both pretty wild.



M. Berkhamov vs. Akhad Mamedov-I remember Akhad from fighting at CW losing to Liam James at 145 lbs.The guy is 5'6" he really doesn't belong at 170 especially against the 6'2" Berk.I haven't seen Berk before the kid is super talented and has a ton of potential.I was thinking sub 2,cause I think Akhad will be a little hard to control, but the size difference will be great and Berk has nasty subs,I also think he could get a KO so i'm going Sub-1.I still feel like it will leave the first round but Sub-1 is the safer pick.



S. Nizamutdinov vs. Igor Litoshik-Shamil-Both these guys are pretty bad.Niza moves ok for being fat,thows ok punches pretty quick but overall is pretty bad everywhere and his tdd is shitty,which will be his downfall here.Igor got ko'd in 2 seconds a few fights ago,his stand up is pretty bad but he's a decent wrestler,ok control,decent gnp and seems to have decent submissions.I think either guy could win this one,Niza is better than he looks,but I think the safe pick is Igor Sub-1 or 2.I'll go Sub-1.



Denis Ezuta vs. A. Medzhidov-Both these guys kind of suck,they have one common opponent,Ezuta lost a split dec and Medz got ko'd in the first but it was his first fight.Denis just wings crazy punches,he's awkward and not very athletic but he can take a decent punch and seems to hit pretty hard,but anyone with skills should make him a punching bag,which we saw in 5 of his 6 fights.Medz throws a lot of spinning backfists but he does well to get inside and use his wrestling background that i'm assuming he has.He has nice td's and seems to be pretty good on the ground.I really don't think he'll get into a firefight standing with Ezuta,which he would probably lose.Kind of a toss up fight,I wouldn't be surprised with a Ezuta KO but i'm going Medz Sub-1.



Arkadiy Lisin vs. Osman Shahbazov-Lisin is pretty weak and flimsy,his tdd sucks,he's not very good on the ground,his striking is pretty bad and has no power.He's pretty tough and can go 3 rounds that's about it.I didn't see any footage on Osman but i'll take him KO-1 Lisin sucks.Can't really tell by looks but Osman looks like he'd be a good fighter but either way,just seeing Lisin I know I wouldn't pick him.


Andrey Eganian vs. Aram Grigoryan-I'll take Aram even though he has a loss,he's a high level judoka and I think wrestler and his loss was was against a really good fighter.For a grappler Aram actually hits quite hard.I guess i'll go sub-1 but KO-1 might be good too.


Denis Ezuta vs. Ruslan Stepanyan-Really impressive speed on Ruslans kicks,his hands aren't great but not terrible.Like an idiot he tried a guillotine in his last fight when he wasn't anywhere near locking it up then got submitted but the guy was good.Either guy could get ko'd here,i'll take Ruslan KO-1.


Igor Litoshik vs. Murad Gasanov-Murad hasn't fought that I can see so I gotta go Igor Sub-1