Afghan featherweight Abdul Azim Badakhshi took home the win with a second-round knockout against Brazil’s Marcelo Guariha at Matrix Fight Night 7 at the Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad.
MFN was founded by Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff and his sister Krishna. Following a trio of events in the UAE, the promotion made its return home with a nine-fight card.
Badakhshi is a stalwart of the Indian MMA scene having racked up five straight victories in Super Fight League between 2017-18. Every single one of his wins has come inside the distance and ‘The Afghan Lion’ demonstrated why he is such a deadly finisher.
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Right hand
He had the better of the first round and showed his dominance in the clinch before scoring with a takedown. Guariha came into the bout riding a four-fight winning streak and secured a takedown of his own late in the round.
The Brazilian found himself taken back down on the canvas at the start of the second stanza. Badakhashi – who looked much stronger, began raining down punches and elbows with ‘Guara’ sitting, exposed against the cage wall.
The 29-year-old then went for an armbar which lead to his undoing. Badakhashi slammed him back to the mat and unleashed some ground and pound. With Guariha struggling to stay in the fight the Afghan stood up before firing off one more surgical right hand to finish the contest.
The victory extends Badakhashi’s record to 12-3. Guariha slides to 16-9.
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Best of the rest
In the co-main event, it was an all-Indian affair as Druv Chaudray came up trumps in his trilogy clash with Sumeet Khade. Khade had won their initial encounter at SFL in 2013. Having levelled proceedings with a unanimous decision at MFN 2019, Chaudray took his record to 15-7 as he dispatched his rival in the first round with some ground and pound.
Matrix Fight Night 7, Hyderabad, December 10th
Abdul Azim Badakhshi def. Marcelo Guarilha via Second-Round TKO
Dhruv Chaudhary def. Sumeet Khade via first-round TKO
Angad Bisht def. Chungreng Koren via Unanimous Decision
Shyamanand def. Abhishek Negi via Second-Round TKO
Jojo Rajkumari def. Ishika Thite via First-Round arm-bar
Clinton DCruz def. Sahil Rana via Split Decision
Mandeep Prajapati def. Karan Singh via Split Decision
Bonjovi def. Gajender Rawat via TKO
Arshiyan Memon def. Bishwamitra via Third-Round TKO
