UFC Fighting Gold. What belt did Khabib win and is he real? What is the ufc belt made of
Khabib Nurmagometov and Al Iaquinta
Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov became the new owner of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) belt in lightweight. In the title fight, he was opposed by the American Al Iaquinta. The day before the tournament, he came to replace Tony Ferguson, who was originally announced as Nurmagomedov's opponent.
Most of the predictions did not give Iaquinta a chance to resist Nurmagomedov and fight in full - in a duel at the end of last year, Khabib left no chance for Edson Barbosa, one of the strongest fighters in the lightweight category. And today's opponent of Nurmagomedov has not yet managed to enter even the top 10.
Despite this, the American held out all five rounds and waited for the decision of the judges. The Russian fighter dominated throughout the fight, and won by unanimous decision. Nurmagomedov won the long-awaited belt, remaining undefeated - in each of his 26 fights he won.
Who is Al Iaquinta and why did he get the title shot?
Al Iaquinta is actually quite a successful New York realtor. The last time he sold the house was for nearly a million dollars. The fighter started selling real estate because the UFC fees did not suit him - because of this, he often quarreled with the organization's president, Dana White.
A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov(@khabib_nurmagomedov) on Jan 23, 2018 at 11:03pm PST
During its existence, the famous "combat" brand UFC has acquired an impressive collection of achievements - both individual fighters and the company as a whole. But a special place among those who distinguished themselves is occupied by pioneering champions, who had the honor of winning the very first tournaments of their weight categories.
So it was with Demetrius Johnson, who won the flyweight championship belt at the tournament in Toronto. After the victory, Johnson immediately joined the elite fraternity of fighters who became the first holders of the UFC title. Now things will be different for Johnson. The frenzy of the fans, who staged a real pandemonium in the struggle for an autograph and a photo with the newly minted champion, was another confirmation of the special position of the athlete.
“You're the very first!” shouted the fans, showing an intensity of emotion far greater than that observed by Johnson and his team during the tournament. According to Joe Benavidez, Demetrius Johnson is now the real “George Washington in the flyweight division”, and who better than Joe to judge this. It was Benavidez who got the role of Johnson's defeated opponent in the fight for the championship belt in the 8th division of the UFC.
41 athletes (excluding "temporary" winners) at various times became the owner of UFC championship belts. UFC Magazine reminds MMA fans of the names of some of the stellar roster.
The first champion of the first UFC tournament: Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie, the winner of the first UFC event in 1993 and the flag bearer of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in the United States, received a medal and a cash check for his successful fight at UFC I. Despite his victories in UFC I, UFC II and UFC IV, and also masterful "notches" in the form of 11 victorious submissions in a row, Gracie never became the owner of the championship belt. The main prize of the UFC was at stake in the 5th tournament of the promotion, in a fight against Ken Shamrock, however, a draw forced both opponents to leave without a trophy.
First UFC Superfight Winner: Ken Shamrock
After drawing against Royce Gracie in the premiere UFC Superfight, Ken Shamrock was given the opportunity to try his hand again in a super fight format. Masterfully mastering the techniques of pankration, Shamrock realized the “guillotine” against Dan Severn and snatched off his first championship belt.
First flyweight champion: Demetrius Johnson
The fight at UFC 152, when the first-ever champion title in the new division of the promotion was played out, was a truly masterpiece action from Demetrius Johnson. Like a real matador, he tried to confuse and confuse the bookmaker's favorite, Joseph Benavidez. The 11-pound, 24-carat gold-plated UFC championship belt was already slung over Johnson's shoulder, but Matt Hume's protégé showed a clear reluctance to rave about his historic victory. But, if we recall the past that preceded Johnson's success - a father whom the athlete never saw, a mother suffering from deafness, a misfortune in the family that happened right before the title fight (details are carefully hidden from the public) - then it is so easy for Johnson to forgive the hidden triumph, and a desire to be the center of attention.
And it's just not his style. When asked what would happen next, Johnson stated, "I need to rest, get back to training and get even better." He also added that he might buy a house in the near future, and lamented the statistical loss to Benavidez in terms of the number of blows, however, Johnson's determination to correct this misunderstanding is more than enough.
First Featherweight Champion: Jose Aldo
Fighters like Cruz and Aldo have turned their WEC championship belts into golden UFC armor. Aldo's magical transformation began with a victory over The Ultimate Fighter finalist Manny Gamburyan at WEC 51. A few weeks later, in Detroit at UFC 123, Dana White had already unveiled Aldo as the UFC featherweight champion. Since then, the 26-year-old Brazilian defended his belt three times and has not lost for 7 years.
First Bantamweight Champion: Dominick Cruz
Armed with a "make the story come true" philosophy and "catch me if you can" fighting style, the 28-year-old San Diego native defeated Scott Jorgensen at World Extreme Cagefighting 53, the last tournament in the promotion's history. Cruz became last champion WEC and the first bantamweight in UFC history. Cruz is now recovering from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament; the fighter has not lost a single game in the past 5 years and is expected to return to action next year. A meeting with him awaits the "temporary" title holder Renan Barau.
First Lightweight Champion: Jens Pulver
When asked why he decided to take up mixed martial arts, Jens Pulver, one of the most outspoken fighters, answered very simply: "I fought to change my name." Pulver, who in 2003 in his biography titled "Little Evil: One Ultimate Fighter's Rise To The Top" described in detail how his father bullied him, went in for sports so that at least something bright and hopeless appeared in a gloomy and hopeless life. positive.
After Jens' duel with Japanese talent Kaol Uno at UFC 30 ended with the victory of ward Pat Miletich, Pulver became the first holder of the UFC lightweight championship belt. The then belts weighed only 7 pounds, it was such an “accessory” that Pulver received from the hands of Dana White. Recalling that evening, Pulver later wrote: “This crazy whirlwind finally stopped ... and I broke through. I sobbed, I called my mother, and in tears I kept repeating: “I did it; we did it".
First Welterweight Champion: Pat Miletich
Pat Miletich is more often remembered as the man who had a hand in raising 4 UFC champions - Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, Tim Sylvia and Dave Menne. And yet, Pat has something to be proud of as a fighter - in Brazil, he defeated Mikey Burnett by a split decision of the judges. Thus, Miletich became the first champion in weight category up to 200 pounds (then still light weight). 4 times Pat successfully defended his title until he lost it to Carlos Newton at UFC 31. Then the welterweight division was formed - up to 170 pounds. Three years ago, "Croatian Sensation" retired from sports and became a commentator for Strikeforce tournaments on Showtime.
First Middleweight Champion: Dave Menne
Dave Menne's most vivid memories of UFC 33 have nothing to do with what happened to the fighter inside the octagon. Perhaps the athlete from Minnesota best remembered the terrifying uncertainty that filled the weeks leading up to his meeting with Gil Castillo. The fight took place just 17 days after the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York.
“I was training with Miletic at the time and sleeping on Jens Pulver's couch,” says Menne. “I remember Tony Freiklund woke me up and they said, 'Watch TV! Watch TV!". “I saw planes crashing into buildings, and I thought: “Is all this really happening?
I then had mixed feelings. We continued to prepare for the title fight, but we couldn't help but wonder: “Will this show take place? Will the fans and fighters be able to get into the tournament at all? Are we going to Las Vegas?"
But the show, as you know, must go on, and Menne still earned his victory. “Before I reached this peak, I went through years of hard work,” recalls Dave. “By the way, after the tournament there was one funny episode. Walking through the corridors of the Mandalay Bay hotel with a UFC belt, I suddenly saw Mike Tyson. I have been watching his career for many years, he is an unreal athlete, and suddenly he says to me: "Hi, champion." That was incredible. I was beside myself with happiness."
First floor champion heavyweight Story by: Frank Shamrock
Frank Shamrock became the first light heavyweight champion after defeating Olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson by submission. Shamrock defended his title four times. After defeating Tito Ortiz in the 4th round at UFC 22, Shamrock abruptly left the UFC, and the championship seat became vacant again.
First Heavyweight Champion: Mark Coleman
UFC 10, UFC 11 and UFC 12 were definitely Mark Coleman's triumph. The "Godfather of G'n'P" won UFC 10 and UFC 11, then a submission fight with Dan Severn at UFC 12, and now he is already the owner of the title of the first heavyweight champion. “UFC 10 was my first fight and I got the belt. The owners of the UFC, I remember, wanted to take it from me to hand it later, but I never gave it back, ”recalls Coleman. “I said I wouldn’t leave Alabama without him. The next day I flew home with the championship belt. I got another trophy at UFC 11 and I beat Dan Severn at UFC 12, so now I have three amazing UFC kids that I love so much; They are very beautiful. I also managed to win the belt of the winner of the Grand Prix PRIDE. This is also a valuable reward, but I would not call it my “brainchild”. So I quite calmly let the kids carry it during the autograph session. While taking pictures with him, someone managed to leave a few scratches on his belt. It's okay, it often happens to me - I also sometimes get scars and abrasions.
UFC Championship Belt: Facts and Figures
Weight: 11 lbs ((4.99 kg), 4 lbs heavier than earlier versions).
Length: 50 inches (1.27 m); all UFC championship belts have the same "dimensions", regardless of the weight category.
Compound: 100% high quality leather and 24k gold plated.
Most belt holders in the last 24 months - in light heavyweight.
First ever UFC championship belt was awarded Dan Severn after winning the UFC 5.
Before UFC 48 champion received new belt after each title defense.
Before the fight, my colleagues and I argued for a long time - and this argument is not over yet - about what the UFC title is in reality. I tend to think that it's just a beautiful (if you like it at all) belt, a champion title within an individual organization, the value of which outside of this organization is about zero. It's not a world title, for example. A little weight is added by the fact that the UFC is considered the largest and most prestigious promotion of MMA fights in the world, it is an international organization where the best fighters in the world are supposed to be gathered, but this cannot be proven.
In the end, we agreed that Khabib’s belt is needed as a symbol of recognition of his merits at the world level, as a trophy, and he had the status of the main representative of Russia in the UFC, the spiritual leader of all Dagestan wrestlers, etc. without this fight and this belt.
And now the entire Internet is divided into those who are in hats and rejoice at Khabib's championship belt, and those who are not, because there is nothing to rejoice here. As a fact - yes, a historical moment, the first fighter from Russia with a UFC belt. This hasn't happened before. There was Oleg Taktarov, but he was the winner of the UFC tournament, at that time championship belts in different divisions were not even played out, the whole MMA system was different, the fights were tougher and did not pretend to be a sport to get on TV.
Retelling the battle from notes in the margins is my favorite pastime, but, perhaps, I will not do it here. Because it was not a fight and certainly cannot be considered a championship fight. Firstly, Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor owned the title, Khabib was only a contender. And he was allowed to play the belt with a non-top 10 man who had not prepared for a five-round fight (Iaquinta was only supposed to fight Felder for three rounds), and the belt was only for Nurmagomedov. That is, this is how the UFC does not value its belt.
Secondly, the fight was supposed to end already in the first round, as soon as Iaquinta was on the floor, but it lasted all five, and it looked like a mockery of a person. First, they wiped the floor for two rounds, then they gave them the opportunity to stand on their feet for a while and beat them in the standing position for two more rounds, and then in the fifth, Khabib either didn’t want to, or couldn’t strangle him or take his hand on the painful one. Considering that everything about the fight was clear from about the very beginning, one conclusion suggests itself - it was not a fight, but a circus performance. Exhibition fight. Show. Wrestling. Something like Mayweather - McGregor, where Floyd diligently tried to miss and accidentally not finish the Irishman before the 10th round.
There is nothing to be ashamed of in exhibition fights. They were attended by Mike Tyson, Fedor Emelianenko, Floyd Mayweather, Mohammed Ali. But just do not pretend that this is a sport. The main result of the fight is that Khabib also succeeds in fighting according to the rules of the show, he took the UFC belt and joked (or?!) about the fight with Georges St-Pierre, who performs a couple of categories harder and generally has one fight every couple of years. That is, Khabib also wants another circus fight. What about old accounts with McGregor and Ferguson?
“You stripped me of my title for this?” an injured Ferguson tweeted.
Khabib at a press conference addresses McGregor: "Beg me for a fight!"
I would like to see these fights, not a circus show. Even if in a parking lot or next to a bus, the main thing is that all cameras work. Otherwise, it's somehow not gangster.
The only gangster of all the fighters that fought this morning is Rose Namajunas. Actually, her nickname is Thug - a bandit, a hooligan, a street punk.
She and Joanna Jedrzejczyk were just finishing up old cases. They didn't shake hands before the fight. They staged a massacre, hugged after the fight, and Rose again took the belt with her. If you choose which of these fights to spend 35-40 minutes of your life on - don't think, choose girls. They are cool!
MMA fighter Conor McGregor, who is ready to fight Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov again.
Russian mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov was denied the UFC championship belt for his victory over Conor McGregor due to the fact that he violated the rules by leaving the octagon before the official announcement of the result of the fight.
Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor in the fourth round with a rear naked choke. After the end of the duel in the cage and outside it, a mass brawl began. Nurmagomedov stepped out of the octagon and started a brawl with Irish fighter American jiu-jitsu coach Dillon Denis. McGregor got into a fight with a fighter from Nurmagomedov's team, Zubaira Tukhugov.
After the fight, the police detained three members of Nurmagomedov's team, who got into a fight with McGregor and members of his team. Among them is the manager of the Russian fighter Rizvan Magomedov.
Leaving the cage immediately after the fight is prohibited by UFC rules. As a result, the winner was announced without fighters, they were taken out of the cage by the decision of the judges.
According to MMA Weekly, the Russian fighter was suspended payment of two million dollars for the victory over McGregor. The Nevada Athletic Commission, which is responsible for paying athletes, also wanted to consider suspending McGregor's purse payments. After reviewing the recording of the incident, her supervisor did not make such a decision.
At a press conference after the fight, Nurmagomedov apologized to the commission and said that after the victory, Vladimir Putin called him.
“I am proud of the next. All the media say that McGregor took a photo with Putin and so on. Putin just called me and said he was very proud of me. He says: “Congratulations,” said the fighter.
In April, Nurmagomedov American Al Iaquinta and became the first Russian to win the UFC lightweight title.
On April 6, in New York, McGregor boarded a bus with UFC fighters, which included Nurmagomedov. McGregor tried to get inside, but he failed, and he threw a chair and a metal cart at the bus, breaking the windows. He was arrested and subsequently released on $50,000 bail. Reuters reported that the reason for the attack could be that Nurmagomedov quarreled with Russian fighter Artem Lobov, a friend and sparring partner of McGregor.
Only sports career Nurmagomedov has 26 wins and no losses. McGregor has 21 wins and three losses.
