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Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - ABU DHABI: On a night featuring 14 high-level jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts matchups, America’s Urijah Faber and Brazil’s Rayron Gracie emerged as champions of the fifth Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship (ADXC) on Friday at the Mubadala Arena. Faber won the no-gi trophy, and Gracie went home with the gi.

Faber showed his stamina as he defeated Bibiano Fernandes of Brazil nearly 20 years after their first encounter in MMA. 

Tapping into his wrestling background to thwart Fernandes’ attacks, Faber worked better from the top as he put pressure on his opponent’s guard. The Brazilian had some good moments as he managed to land a few takedowns and sweeps, but Faber’s skills won through.

In the end, the American fighter conquered the ADXC cage via a unanimous decision. After the duel, Faber stressed his respect for his rival and praised the Abu Dhabi event.

“I love Fernandes. This guy has changed the lives of many athletes throughout his career, and he is also very hard to finish,” Faber said. “I felt good fighting in the cage again. If you’re looking for something to change your life, seek out martial arts. Abu Dhabi is doing the right thing by investing in something like jiu-jitsu.”

In his showdown, Gracie gave no chance to debutant Marcos Carrozzino and picked up his second consecutive victory at ADXC, once again by submission.

Gracie started the fight by defending well against his opponent’s attacks. After a takedown attempt by Carrozzino, Gracie locked in an unorthodox choke, forcing his rival to tap out. Afterwards, Gracie paid tribute to his uncle, renowned mixed martial artist Renzo Gracie, who was in his corner for the bout.

“I know everything is going well when my uncle is by my side,” Gracie said. “My first loop choke was locked in, but Carrozzino escaped very well. The guillotine he applied to me was very tight, but I knew he would put everything into it, so I managed to defend and recover. Five minutes before the fight, my uncle told me to use the corner choke about 40 seconds before the end of the round.” 

In the second main grappling fight, American Chad Mendes overcame Brazilian Diego Brandão by a unanimous decision. Mendes led throughout the fight, controlling his opponent’s head in the stand-up fight, applying good takedowns, and defending superbly.

The other main gi event was a very technical, balanced battle with Pedro Ramalho of Portugal narrowly defeating Max Lindblad of Sweden by split decision to take the title. With similar fighting styles, the competitors exchanged grips and attacks while defending dangerous positions. Ramalho stood out with good sweeps and was particularly dangerous with his feet. Lindblad’s standout moment was a foot lock attempt that put him on top. In the end, though, Ramalho’s consistency was rewarded.

Besides the four main fights, 10 other bouts spiced up ADXC 5. In the opening bout, the UAE’s Balqees Al-Hashmi dominated her fight against Maria Odintsova of Russia. Fully utilizing her guard, Al Hashmi maintained control throughout, applying some promising attacks and using her positional control to keep her opponent under pressure throughout. Al-Hashmi won by unanimous decision.

Another Emirati fighter also picked up a win on home turf. Omar Al-Suwaidi beat Samuel Marquez by unanimous decision in a fight that Al-Suwaidi dominated by maintaining a high pace.

Another stellar display of strength and technique by Iranian fighter Pouya Rahmani in the ADXC cage saw him execute a single-leg takedown on Hamdy Abdelwahab and take the back, extending his arms to the crowd before sliding them under Abdelwahab’s neck and securing victory with a choke hold.

Tunisian fighter Amin Boudhina was defeated by Davi Vetoraci of Brazil. Vetoraci attacked from the beginning with a dangerous flying triangle, then transitioned to an armbar attempt, which Boudhina defended. Later, Vetoraci faked a shoulder lock. When the Tunisian fighter spun to escape, Vetoraci locked in his winning armbar.

Nineteen-year-old Seilkhan Bolatbek of Kazakhstan achieve a quick victory against Emad Ahmedin of the Netherlands and Chinese fighter Xiaosong Shi was defeated by US fighter Abe “The Killer” Alsaghir in an intense match in which Alsaghir used the cage to his advantage. Shi had some good moments, including a particularly well-executed guillotine attempt in the second round, but Alsaghir maintained pressure to emerge victorious by unanimous decision.