Crowd cheer on valiant effort by Emirati fighter Ahmad Al Darmaki at ‘Abu Dhabi Warriors 3’

Emirati featherweight and local favourite Ahmad Al Darmaki, received the loudest cheer of all as he appeared with the UAE flag proudly wrapped around his shoulders, and he answered with a valiant effort.

Emirati Ahmad Al Darmaki, top, put on a valiant effort against Artiyom Gorodynets in their featherweight fight at the Abu Dhabi Warriors Fighting Championship III held at Zayed Sports City , IPIC Arena on October 3, 2015. Vidhyaa for The National
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ABU DHABI // The lights dimmed, background music was turned down and the ring announcer called out the names of the fighters one by one as they appeared from backstage to line up in front of an electric crowd at the Ipic Arena.

Unsurprisingly, Emirati featherweight and local favourite Ahmad Al Darmaki, received the loudest cheer of all as he appeared with the UAE flag proudly wrapped around his shoulders.

“Abu Dhabi Warriors 3” began with a bang as Al Darmaki made his walk to the ring, with a menacing and composed look on his face, while the crowed chanted his name.

Al Darmaki began the first round by lunging into Ukrainian opponent Artiyom Gorodynets with a power kick that resulted in Gorodynets falling on his back. The Emirati started pounding him with punches – exactly what any MMA crowd wants to witness.

But Al Darmaki seemed to tire after couple of minutes of grappling and trading punches on the floor, and that gave Gorodynets an opportunity to turn the tables on him.

Both fighters, however, appeared to be lacking a touch of conditioning as the referee decided to give them a few seconds breather towards the end of the first round.

Gorodynets took charge of the second round which he began by dropping Al Darmaki to the canvas, but the Emirati managed to battle back with a powerful kick that caught Gorodynets on the face.

The momentum of the fight turned when the referee showed Al Darmaki a yellow card for elbowing Gorodynets and, once the fight resumed, the Ukrainian went for an armbar that led to his opponent submitting.

The Abu Dhabi crowd was dejected to witness Al Darmaki’s third defeat in as many fights.

Al Darmaki’s head trainer Jamil Ahmad was particularly disappointed with the officiating and said he would be raising an official complaint against the authorities.

“In the fighters meeting yesterday, we were told that elbowing vertically is not allowed. But you can elbow horizontally while grappling on the floor,” Ahmad said.

“We confirmed this again with the officials just before the fight, and then they caution my fighter for doing something completely legal and within the rules.

“The only reason I raise this is because Ahmad was winning the fight, and when the referee stopped the fight, he not only gave Artiyom a breather but morally killed my fighter.

“This is very unprofessional.”

Al Darmaki was not available for comment immediately after the fight as he was receiving medical attention due to breathing difficulties, though his trainer said it was nothing too serious.

The second fight on Saturday night was Josip Perica of Croatia against Ion Pascu of Romania. Pascu won by the way of TKO in the first round.

Next, China’s Muha Li took on Sweden’s Martin Akhtar with Akhtra winning within a few seconds with an armbar that made Li submit. South Korea’s Seung Chan-hong also defeated France’s Maxin Ceban with an armbar.

The final fight of the preliminary card was between Yoshiyuki Katahira of Japan and Lewis Long of Wales, and it ended in a first-round TKO for Lewis.

In the main event, 41-year-old American Paul Buentello beat Cameroon’s Rameau Sokoudjou, 31, by the way of knockout in the second round.

Buentello said in his pre-fight news conference that he had plenty of fight left in him despite his age, and he hunted down his opponent in the first round with several choke holds.

The second round started with some good jabs and kicks by Sokoudjou who seemed to be landing at will, but Buentello caught the man 10 years younger than himself with a devastating uppercut that left him wobbling.

Thereafter it was power punches to the head on the floor.

The referee broke the two fighters apart, against the general rules of MMA, which led to a few boos from the crowd.

Buentello then caught Sokoudjou again with a power shot that knocked him out and dropped him outside of the ring in the process.

“It was a great fight. Respect to Sokoudjou who came to fight and was hard to catch. He is a great fighter,” Buentello said.

“I’m happy. The Abu Dhabi fans were amazing, and they enjoyed the show. We showed Abu Dhabi some real warriors. I want to come back again for sure for the next event.

“This win is proof that I should keep going for a few more fights.”

sports @thenational.ae