A headline fight between a kickboxer and an ex-UFC fighter, the defeat of Chudinov, another failure of Maxim ‘The Axe’

What a REN TV's Fight Club Super Series tournament has turned out to be, held in Moscow on April 29. Sport-express review on the fight between Babanin and Orlov.

In 2007, in the final of the European Junior Championship, Maxim Babanin defeated Tyson Fury, and now this fight has been haunting him (Babanin, of course). "Tyson Fury's defeater!" - Alexander Zagorsky announced when he introduced Babanin at the 'Vegas City Hall'. It often happens when the public associates a fighter with just one fight, one long-standing victory. It infuriates some of the fighters. But not Babanin. He is proud of his triumph over Fury and sometimes re-watches that fight with pleasure.

As well as beating Fury, Max won the Russian Amateur Boxing Championship (in 2015) and took the World Championship bronze medal (in 2019). 'Volgograd Tyson' (Zagorsky said these two words) went professional late - at the age of 33, and they don't give him very serious opponents so far, to put it mildly. For example, Olivier Dounda Mekongo, a Cameroonian from St. Petersburg, lost all 14 boxing and MMA fights he participated in. Mekongo's work is to agree to a fight, get in the ring, stand and lose without much damage.

Babanin's new opponent was very experienced, but completely devoid of ambition 43-year-old Evgeny Orlov. He is even taller than Fury - 207 cm. By the way, Evgeny once sparred with Fury and fought with Vladimir - whoever he's sparred with. Orlov's other achievements also include the unusual nickname 'Molecule from Hell' and his victory over Vyacheslav Datsik by a stunning knockout - in the first half of the 2000s, at the Arbat Casino. Recently, blogger Viktor Blud asked Datsik if he had ever been knocked out, to which 'Red Tarzan' replied: “No.” Apparently, Slava was so offended by that defeat (no one forgets that). Datsik watched the fight between Babanin and Orlov from the front row - he was sitting next to his wife. There were also Alexander Povetkin and Sergei Kharitonov among the honoured guests of the show. This means that the three main pagans of Russian martial arts came together in one place, at the REN TV Fight Club tournament.

Babanin beat Orlov effortlessly. He easily shortened the distance (Maksim's height is 183, so he resembles Tyson, though his build is not that athletic), threw powerful blows both to the body and the head. The 'Hell Molecule' got through two rounds, but after another hit to the liver in the third round, he cried out: “Oh, ***!” Soon there was another shriek. And then his coach (he is 15 years younger than Orlov) threw in the white towel. So, the Fury defeater took the fourth victory in the pros.

photo by iz.ru