Naiza FC 51: Indian MMA fighter Ehtesham Ansari gets first-round submission win

05 June 2023

Indian MMA fighter Ehtesham Ansari secured a huge first-round submission win at Naiza FC 51 making him the first-ever Indian MMA fighter to win at the promotion.

Ehtesham, who went up against Sardorbek Abilkhairov of Uzbekistan, came back after a slow start and submitted his opponent in the closing minutes of First-round.

The Indian earned the win via a Rear-Naked Choke and waved the Indian flag high after his win at the event. With the win, Ehtesham improved his professional MMA record to 5-1 and will be looking to build on the same when he steps into the cage next time.

Ehtesham was initially scheduled to fight Sherzod Shamsudinov at Naiza FC 51 but the fight did not go through and a short-notice fight against Sardorbek Abilkhairov. It was also the promotional debut for Sardorbek who started strongly in the fight only to see the Indian get a submission as the fight progressed.

Before fighting at Naiza FC, Ehtesham competed in Indian MMA promotions such as Hero MMA, Warrior’s Dream Series and Fight of Knights. He has also competed at Matrix Fight Night where he competed under Amateur Rules against Abhimanyu Rai.

The Indian trained at the Nurmagomedov School ahead of his fight and in India, he trains out of Knockout Fight Club in Delhi.

Elsewhere, in the main event of Naiza FC 51, Olzhas Abzaliev got the better of Artur Guseinov. Olzhas secured a submission in the fourth round via an arm triangle to win the fight. In the co-main event, Abdibait Uulu secured a knockout win over Elvis Martins of Brazil to improve his professional MMA record to 15-4-1.

Nurbek Kabdrakhmanov, Dhouglas Ribeiro, Bagylan Zhakansha and Anuarbek Bekembetov also secured wins at the event. Sora Rakhmonova, the sister of UFC star Shavkat Rakhmonov also secured a dominant win as she stopped Valeria Karygina in the second round.

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