Ali Bagautinov Stops Sean Santella in 61 Seconds, Advances to the GP Final at Brave CF 55

Ali "Puncher King" Bagautinov stops Sean Santella in the very first round and advances to the final of the BRAVE CF Flyweight Tournament pic.twitter.com/tG6cowx2p3

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) November 6, 2021

It wasn’t the opponent he originally expected, but Ali Bagautinov is nonetheless moving on in the Brave Combat Federation flyweight grand prix.

It took a little more than one minute for the former Ultimate Fighting Championship 125-pound title challenger to secure the second spot in the Brave flyweight grand prix finals after stopping Sean Santella (23-8-2, 1 NC; 0-2-1 Brave) in the Brave CF 55 headliner on Saturday in Rostov-On-Don, Russia. Bagautinov was supposed to face Jose Torres, but the latter pulled out 24 hours before the weigh-ins after admitting he wouldn’t hit the contracted weight. Former Cage Fury FC flyweight titleholder Santella was originally slated to lock horns with Rizvan Abuev but agreed to replace Torres on short notice.

After studying each other for a few seconds on the feet, Bagautinov (22-7, 3-0 Brave) was able to connect with some quick punches against Santella. Sensing the danger, “Shorty Rock” dove for a takedown but ended up with his back on the canvas after his Russian opponent stuffed it. Santella fought his way back on the feet only to take a few more punches and resort to wrestling once more. Bagautinov blocked another takedown attempt and found himself in the position to land an elbow. The shot rocked Santella, who immediately turtled up. Bagautinov scored with a few body shots before attacking the head once again, forcing the referee, who seemed unconcerned by the American fighter’s laments that the first elbow landed illegally behind the head, to stop the contest 61 seconds into the opening round. “The King Puncher” will now face Velimurad Alkhasov in the tournament’s grand finale, which has yet to receive an official date.

In the co-main event, Artur Sviridov (5-2-2, 0-0-1 Brave) and Bellator MMA alum Ibrahim Mane (8-4-1, 1-2-1 Brave) fought to a rare unanimous draw in a 175-pound affair. The Russian attacked his opponent with various spinning kicks and quick combinations in Round 1, while the Frenchman had more success with his shots in the second frame. Mane came close to emulating the Anderson Silva-Vitor Belfort finish with a successful front kick, but he lacked enough power to stop Sviridov. After realizing that he wouldn’t solve the French enigma on the feet, the Russian landed a takedown midway through the third stanza, which arguably allowed him to win the round. Mane attacked with a deep kimura attempt, but the Russian’s resiliency allowed him to get out of the submission threat. Ultimately, the judges agreed for a unanimous draw with all three submitting 29-29 scorecards.

Earlier, Sam Patterson (8-1-1, 4-1-1 Brave) choked Kamil Magomedov (14-2, 0-1 Brave) with a tight guillotine at the 3:21 mark of Round 2. After the victory, Patterson called out lightweight champion Ahmed Amir for a rematch. The two battled to a draw at Brave CF 23 in April 2019.

Elsewhere, 185-pound fighter Abdulsupyan Alikhanov (13-3, 1-0 Brave) took home a majority decision over Rustam Chsiev (5-3, 3-2 Brave) with 30-28, 30-28, and 29-29 scorecards from the judges; Sergey Yaskovets (14-8,1-0 Brave) avenged a previous defeat at the hands of Andrey Bragovskiy (8-5, 0-1 Brave) after stopping the Ukrainian with punches at 4:53 of the second stanza in their welterweight rematch; in Brave’s 175-pound division, Kamal Magomedov (9-0, 1-0 Brave) scored his ninth first-round finish after forcing Vitali Tverdokhlebov (7-7, 0-1) to tap with an armbar 52 seconds after the bell; Rizin Fighting Federation alum Ali Abdulkhalikov (9-1, 1-0 Brave) unanimously upended Artur Aliev (8-2-1, 0-1 Brave) with 30-27, 20-28, and 30-28 nods from the judges in a 160-pound catchweight clash; International MMA Federation graduate Gazimurad Magomedov (1-0, 1-0 Brave) smashed Dzhabrail Aidamirov (2-1, 0-1 Brave) with punches 46 seconds into their 185-pound affair; Albert Mallakurbanov (4-1, 1-0 Brave) outpointed Ahmed Omarov (0-1, 0-1 Brave) via unanimous decision — 30-26, 30-26, 29-27 — at featherweight.

In the opening bantamweight battle, Vadim Pavlikov (2-0, 1-0 Brave) submitted Alan Balaev (1-1, 0-1 Brave) via rear-naked choke at the 3:56 mark in Round 3.