Damien Lapilus Outpoints Kaynan Kruschewsky in Ares FC 4 Headliner

PARIS -- Ares Fighting Championship returned for its fourth event, which went down at the Dome de Paris.

In the Ares FC 4 main event, Damien Lapilus took on Legacy Fighting Alliance vet Kaynan Kruschewsky in front of a partisan crowd. Lapilus (19-14-2, 2-0 Ares) attempted to force a quick finish to please the fans as he waged war on his opponent with punches as kicks. Kruschewsky (11-2, 0-1 Ares) stood his ground and retaliated to Lapilus' big punches with precise shots that disrupted the pace. During the commotion, Kruschewsky landed a low blow, but Lapilus fought through it. The clash took off in the second frame as both fighters landed with their punches. After a couple of minutes of wild exchanges, each man took a breath and grappled against the fence until the referee separated them. Lapilus charged with punches and body kicks once more early in Round 3, but had to defend himself from a guillotine attack. On the canvas, Lapilus scored with shots but Kruschewsky resurged on the feet shortly after. In the last couple of minutes, Lapilus invited his foe to stay in the center of the cage and exchange with him as he landed a flashy head kick. Ultimately, the fight went to the judges’ scorecards, which unanimously indicated Lapilus as the winner with 29-28 nods.

The co-feature saw Dana White’s Contender Series alum Maria Silva facing Brave Combat Federation graduate Ewelina Wozniak. Throughout the fight, Wozniak (6-1, 0-1 Ares) had a slight striking advantage that Silva denied thanks to her grappling. Every time the opportunity presented itself, Silva (8-0, 1-0 Ares) moved the action on the floor and scored with punches. In Round 2, Wozniak felt she had to get respect and almost tapped Silva with a choke, but the Brazilian fighter fought her way out of the sticky situation. In an ironic turn of events, Silva took her opponent down right out of the gate in the third stanza, working her way until she captured the back. Once there, she sunk a rear-naked choke that didn’t leave any chance to Wozniak but to tap 64 seconds into the third frame.

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Elsewhere, Henrique Shiguemoto (14-4-1, 1-0 Ares) left Pietro Penini (10-3-1, 1NC; 0-1 Ares) senseless after unloading a heavy series of ground-and-pound shots, calling the end of the fight at the 4:24 mark at middleweight; at light heavyweight, Nasrudin Nasrudinov (10-1, 1-0 Ares) forced Claudio Conti (8-7-2, 0-1 Ares) into retirement at the end of the first stanza; strawweight Elizabeth Vanessa Rodrigues (4-4, 1-0 Ares) edged Micol DiSegni (9-4, 0-1 Ares) with a controversial split decision where two judges gave 29-28 nods to Rodrigues and the third scored 30-27 for DiSegni; Akhmed Salamov (4-1, 1-0 Ares) submitted Robert Valentin (6-3, 0-1 Ares) via kneebar with only 20 seconds left in their middleweight affair; Marek Jakimowicz (3-0, 1-0 Ares) smashed Karim Ghajji (2-2, 0-1 Ares) with punches and elbows, forcing the referee to stop the contest at the 4:43 mark of the first frame of their lightweight encounter.

On the preliminary card, welterweight Karim Rabei (7-3, 1-1 Ares) upended Nikola Joksovic (7-1, 0-1 Ares) with a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-37, 30-27); Rizlen Zouak (6-4, 1NC; 1-1, 1NC Ares) made the most out of her judo background to take a unanimous decision from Flordinice Muniz (3-1, 0-1 Ares) at bantamweight; David-Tonatiuh Crol (9-7, 1-1 Ares) recovered from a knockdown to submit Darwin Luna Ortez (6-3, 0-1 Ares) with a rear-naked choke at the 2:25 mark in the first frame of their featherweight clash; at welterweight, Ammari Diedrick (2-0, 1-0 Ares) stopped Shakhbulat Abuev (2-1, 0-1 Ares) with a leg kick followed by punches at 1:41 of Round 3.