The UFC 311 tournament, which will take place on the night of January 19, will be headed by two fighters from Russia – Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. The championship belt will be at stake, and no one predicts an easy walk for the Dagestani fighter. True, Islam already has successful experience of difficult fights against opponents with Armenian roots.

Dangerous opponent without defeats

In 2011, Makhachev’s professional career was just gaining momentum. There were only four fights under his belt, three of which Islam won ahead of schedule. In another, the future UFC champion won by unanimous decision.

Success in American promotion was still far away, but a career needed to be built. Islam held his fifth fight in the rather modest organization ProFC, which in the early 1990s became the launching pad for many future stars of Russian mixed martial arts. For example, Makhachev’s friend and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov performed there.

Islam fought in this promotion twice. The second match took place in the final of the Commonwealth Nations Cup team tournament, in which the championship was played out between the Combat-DOBRO and Peresvet FT clubs. The title was awarded to the team with more victories in five matches.

Islam was the first from the team to enter the ring. His opponent was Vladimir Egoyan, a Russian fighter with Armenian roots. At that time, he also did not know defeat in his professional career (3-0, 2 KO). The athlete from Rostov-on-Don had excellent training, as he had long been involved in army hand-to-hand combat and combat sambo.

Hardest Victory

From the first seconds of the fight, Vladimir performed a spectacular takedown and showed that underestimation can cost Islam dearly. It was not possible to develop success on the ground, but Makhachev still picked up several unpleasant blows. Only after this the Dagestan fighter was able to turn his opponent over.

Unsuccessful attempts by both to achieve a choke hold led to the judge lifting the athletes. In the stand-up, Islam was more accurate, but for Egoyan, a new attempt to move into wrestling ended unsuccessfully. The fighters again found themselves on the canvas, but Vladimir was lying on his back. In this position, he missed many hard blows.

The second round, according to ProFC rules, was the last. It started with an exchange of powerful low kicks. Then Egoyan went to close range, where he received a knee to the head, but still knocked down his opponent. Now the Rostov resident had the initiative.

A minute later, Islam was able to get up and almost immediately made a successful throw, however, being carried away by the attack, he allowed his opponent to take his neck and go for a choke hold. For about 40 seconds, Egoyan tried to “put” his opponent to sleep, until the referee intervened and raised the fighters to a standing position.

The remaining segment was a two-edged struggle. It was up to the judges to decide the outcome of the confrontation. Since the fight turned out to be as close as possible, it is not surprising that the referees did not come to a consensus. Makhachev won by split decision.

But one victory for Islam was not enough for the final success in the tournament. Following him, Khabib won, their team was one step away from the title, but in the next three fights the representatives of Peresvet FT were stronger, who eventually became the owners of the Commonwealth Nations Cup.

Every MMA fan knows Makhachev’s further career, but Egoyan is not so popular, although he also achieved good results. In 2021, for example, he became the champion of the AMC Fight Nights Global league. He also has prizes in various competitions in hand-to-hand combat and combat sambo.

The UFC 311 tournament will take place on the night of January 19, Moscow time. Watch the live broadcast on the Match TV and Match! Fighter”, websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru. Starts at 2:00 Moscow time for “Match!” Fighter” and at 6:00 Moscow time on Match TV.