Matrix Fight Night 11 took place in New Delhi last night and was headlined by a title bout. Darkhanbek Ergeshev outlasted Seth Rosario to become the inaugural welterweight champion.
Ergeshev looks a top prospect having come into the contest on the back of an eight-fight winning streak. Kyrgyzstan is going through something of a golden age in the sport at present with the likes of Valentina Shevchenko, Rafael Fiziev and Kiamrian Abbasov all enjoying success.
Ergeshev is the latest star to emerge from the country and he did damage early, attacking Rosario’s legs. The Puerto Rican, who is based long term in India, enjoyed some success on the ground and pushed for a submission.
However Rosario’s leg took more of a battering in the third and became compromised. He managed to stay in the fight using his grappling skills and produced some sharp leg kicks of his own in the fourth round.
Darkhanbek was able to land more low kicks in the firth and final round to take a unanimous decision win and become the inaugural Matrix Fight Night champion. His record moves up to 7-3-0-1 while Rosario drops to 6-4.
View this post on Instagram
Unsuccessful comeback
The co-main event saw John Mitchell defeat Srikant Sekhar in the first round with a massive punch that dropped the Indian and forced the referee to stop the fight. The Irishman moves up to 6-1 while his opponent slips to 7-7.
Sekhar had been out of action for nine months due to injuries sustained during the post-fight events at Matrix Fight Night 9. The local favorite was attacked by a mob of Afghan fans allegedly led by Abdul Azim Badakhshi and suffered a broken jaw.
Matrix Fight Night 11, Delhi, March 31st
Darkhanbek Ergeshev def. Seth Rosario via Unanimous Decision
John Mitchell def. Srikant Sekhar via First-Round KO
Chaitanya Gavali vs. Dhruv Chaudhary ends in no-contest due to an accidental groin kick
Dinesh Naorem def. Sagar Thapa via Third-Round TKO
Rahul Thapa def. Longtsukumba Ao via First-Round Submission (RNC)
Neeraj Panghal def. Owais Yaqoob via Third-Round Submission (Guillotine)
Himanshu Kaushik def. Musa Raish via Split Decision
Chungreng Koren def. Manish Mahanta via First-Round TKO
Mairidin Newmai def. Mandeep Prajapati via Unanimous Decision
Sahil Rana def. Anas Shaikh via Unanimous Decision
Arshiyan Memon def. Ritesh via TKO
Bonjovi Nongmaithem def. Lima Sunep via Submission (Guillotine)
