Current season, competition or edition: 2022 in AMC Fight Nights | |
 | |
| Sport | Mixed martial arts |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010; 16 years ago (2010) |
| Founder | Kamil Gadzhiev, Amir Muradov |
| Owner | Amir Muradov |
| Country | Russia |
| Headquarters | Moscow |
| Official website | http://www.fightnights.ru |
AMC Fight Nights (orFight Nights Global before 2021) is a Russianmixed martial arts organization that previously hosted K-1 and other martial arts events. It is one of the largest promotion companies in the world[1] and features some of the top-ranking fighters of the sport.
Fight Nights Global produces events worldwide, with the first one being held in 2010 inMoscow. As of 2018, Fight Nights Global has held over 80 events in different cities:Saint Petersburg,Novosibirsk,Yekaterinburg,Nizhny Novgorod,Omsk,Rostov-On-Don,Perm,Khabarovsk,Vladivostok,Sochi,Bryansk,Kostroma,Nizhnevartovsk,Kaspiysk,Astana,Elista,Grozny,Dushanbe,Minsk and more.
In different years the company's shows featuredFedor Emelianenko,Batu Khasikov,Vitaly Minakov,Rasul Mirzaev,Ali Bagautinov,Vladimir Mineev,Andrei Arlovski,Alexander Shlemenko,Shamil Zavurov,Murad Machaev,Gasan Umalatov,Antônio Silva,Viktor Pešta,Fábio Maldonado and many other mixed martial artists.
The company was founded in 2010 by a Russian athlete, businessman and sports ambassador Kamil Gadzhiev, together with a multiple time world kickboxing championBatu Khasikov, a television producerSangadji Tarbaev, the "SHANDESIGN" studio head Sergei Shanovich and theGoldman Sachs Russia CEO Sergey Arsenyev.
Initially, Fight Nights Global (at that time called FIGHT NIGHTS) fights were held in a ring under MMA and K-1 rules. The first event featured Lightweight Grand Prix, which was won byMurad Machaev. In the main eventBatu Khasikov knocked out Ricardo Fernandes.Rasul Mirzaev defeated Marat Pekov via judges decision and became the first FIGHT NIGHTS champion in the Featherweight category.
The first high-profile event happened in November 2011 in Moscow and featured the Greek kickboxerMike Zambidis facing Batu Khasikov. Batu won by TKO in the first round and broke his opponent's jaw.
In 2012, the company held seven major events with the final one being "FIGHT NIGHTS: Battle of Moscow 9" on December 16. The show featured the debut of theUFC ex-championAndrei Arlovski. The Belarusian fighter defeatedMike Hayes from the United States via a unanimous decision.
Vitaly Minakov, Fight Nights Global promotion's household name, signed a contract withBellator MMA in 2012.
In 2013, Vitaly won the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix tournament and then won the Bellator MMA belt by knocking outAlexander Volkov in the first round. In April 2013, Vitaly became the first FIGHT NIGHTS fighter to make his way to theUFC. The next one wasAli Bagautinov who competed in the Flyweight division and signed a contract with the UFC after a victory over the experienced Japanese mixed martial artist Seiji Ozuka.
In June 2013 the company started using an octagonal cage that is popular in theMMA industry. In November 2013, the company hosted the first event outside of Russia, “FIGHT NIGHTS: Battle on the Nyamiha" atMinsk-Arena,Belarus. The main attraction of the night was the home performance byAndrei Arlovski.
Batu Khasikov had his last professional fight in March 2014 at “Fight Nights: Battle Of Moscow 15” where he again foughtMike Zambidis. The fight went all five rounds, Khasikov was the victor.Vladimir Mineev debuted in MMA at “Fight Nights: Battle Of Moscow 17”. The final tournament of 2014 featuredAlexander Shlemenko vs.Yasubey Enomoto.
In 2015 the company hosted four major shows (Fight Nights: Battle Of Moscow 19, Fight Nights: Sochi, Fight Nights: Dagestan, Fight Nights: Petersburg) and eighteen selection tournaments “Fight club FIGHT NIGHTS".
Vitaly Minakov used his interim in Bellator MMA to return to the Fight Nights Global promotion. From July 2015 to June 2016 the four-time Sambo world champion fought in 4 matches, winning early victories over Adam Maciejewski (Poland), Geronimo dos Santos (Brazil), Josh Copeland (USA) andPeter Graham (Australia).
In 2016 the company was bought by Summa Group, a conglomerate that invested in port logistics, engineering, construction, telecommunications, sports, oil and gas that was founded by Dagestani billionaireZiyavudin Magomedov.[2] Kamil Gadzhiev, who is also the Vice-President of Moscow MMA Federation, became the president of the newly established Fight Nights Global. Backed by substantial investments of Summa Group, 2016 was the year of a massive breakthrough for FNG on the Russian market.
Fight Nights Global 50 (June 17, 2016) inSaint Petersburg featured a fight card headlined byFedor Emelianenko. 4 years after retirement, "The Last Emperor" decided to come back to professional sports in the Fight Nights Global cage versus one of the most uncompromising strikers of the UFC,Fabio Maldonado. The tough match ended with a split decision win for the Russian athlete. The event was broadcast worldwide viaUFC Fight Pass.
In 2017 Fight Nights Global determined champions in all eightweight categories among men and inked plenty of international talent to the roster includingRousimar Palhares, Josh Hill,Tyson Nam and the returningAli Bagautinov to multi-fight contracts.[3]
The company hosted 25 events, discovering new cities and countries, includingAstana andAlmaty inKazakhstan,Dushanbe inTajikistan,Omsk,Penza,Tolyatti,Surgut,Krasnodar,Yekaterinburg,Bryansk andUlan-Ude in Russia.
Fight Night Global president Kamil Gadzhiev announced that the promotion will introduce the Anti-Doping Control System.[4]
Fight Nights Global 68, which took place during the InternationalEconomic Forum in Saint Petersburg, showcased Vitaly Minakov vs.Antonio Silva.[5] Later, Novosibirsk hosted Fight Nights Global 69, whereAli Bagautinov defeated Pedro Nobre.[6] In September, the notorious Fight Nights Global 73 took place. It featured the Russian-Brazilian confrontations Shamil Amirov vs.Rousimar Palhares, Kurban Omarov vs.Fabio Maldonado and Akhmed Aliev vs.Diego Brandao in the main event, which ended with a scandal.[7]
Other events of the year were Fight Nights Global 77, where newly-signedNikita Krylov KO’edEmanuel Newton[8] and Fight Nights Global 82, where the undefeated heavyweightVitaly Minakov TKO’ed the top fighter from theUSA,Tony Johnson.
In 2018 the company announced more international shows, including events inBrazil,USA andEU.
In 2020 November Fight Nights Global owner Kamil Gadzhiev sold his promotion to AMC Company owner Amir Muradov. After that they renamed the promotion to AMC Fight Nights Global.[9][10]
Fight Nights Global rules are based on the Russian MMA regulations. Elbow strikes on the ground are legal. Referees have the right to raise fighters in a stand up in the absence of activity. If the fight is a draw, additional rounds are not assigned. A typical event lasts five hours and features 11 bouts. Bouts last 3 rounds 5 minutes each and champion bouts or main event bouts are 5 rounds 5 minutes each. The championship features 8 male and 2 female weight categories: 57 kg, 61 kg, 66 kg, 70 kg, 77 kg, 84 kg, 93 kg and over 93 kg.[citation needed]
| AMC Fight Nights | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Event | Date | Venue | Location | |||
| Division | Champion | Since | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | Vacant | ||
| Light Heavyweight |  Vagab Vagabov | October 16, 2021 | 1 |
| Middleweight | Vladimir Mineev | September 9, 2020 | 1 |
| Welterweight | Dmitry Bikrev | April 6, 2019 | 4 |
| Lightweight | Alexander Sarnavskiy | February 23, 2024 | 0 |
| Featherweight | Vacant | ||
| Bantamweight |  Sabit Zhusupov | October 14, 2022 | 1 |
| Flyweight | Vacant |
over 93 kg (over 205 lb)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponomarev vacated the title when he signed forACA.[11] | ||||
| 3 | Grigoriy Ponomarev | AMC Fight Nights 115 Sochi, Russia | October 14, 2022 | 1. def. Yusup Shuaev atAMC Fight Nights 119 on March 18, 2023 |
| 2 | Yusup Shuaev def. Grigoriy Ponomarev | AMC Fight Nights 110 Astrakhan, Russia | March 25, 2022 | |
| Sergei Pavlovich vacated the title when he signed forUFC. | ||||
| 1 | Sergei Pavlovich def.Mikhail Mokhnatkin | FNG 68 Saint Petersburg, Russia | June 2, 2017 | 1. def. Kirill Sidelnikov atFNG 79 on November 19, 2017 |
93 kg (205 lbs)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Vagab Vagabov | AMC Fight Nights 105 Sochi,Russia | October 16, 2021 | 1. def. David Barkhudaryan atAMC Fight Nights 113 on July 15, 2022 |
| 4 |  Hasan Yousefi | AMC Fight Nights 102 Krasnoyarsk,Russia | June 18, 2021 | |
| 3 |  Armen Petrosyandef. Artur Aliskerov | MMA Festival Rostov-on-Don,Russia | August 28, 2020 | 1. def. Dmitry Minakov atFNG Steel Heart XI on January 22, 2021 |
| Nikita Krylov vacated the title when he signed forUFC. | ||||
| 2 |  Nikita Krylov | FNG 87 Rostov-on-Don,Russia | May 19, 2018 | |
| 1 |  Fábio Maldonadodef. Kurban Omarov | FNG 73 Kaspiysk,Russia | September 4, 2017 | |
84 kg (185 lbs)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interim | Dmitriy Aryshev def. Irwing Machado[12] | AMC Fight Nights 122 Moscow,Russia | November 10, 2023 | |
| Current | Vladimir Mineev def. Dauren Ermekov | FNG / GFC Moscow,Russia | September 9, 2020 | 1. def. Magomed Ismailov atAMC Fight Nights 105 on October 16, 2021 |
| Roman Kopylov vacated the title when he signed forUFC. | ||||
| 2 | Roman Kopylov | FNG 85 Moscow,Russia | March 30, 2018 | 1. def. Yasubey Enomoto atFNG 91 on Dec 27, 2018 |
| 1 | Abusupyan Alikhanov def. Khalid Murtazaliev | FNG 66 Kaspiysk,Russia | May 21, 2017 | |
77 kg (170 lbs)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Dmitry Bikrev def. Maxim Butorin | FNG 92 Moscow,Russia | April 6, 2019 | 1. NC vs. Shamil Amirov atFNG 98 on September 25, 2020 2. def. Goity Dazaev atFNG 100 on April 10, 2021 3. def. Ruslan Kolodko atAMC Fight Nights 113 on July 15, 2022 4. def. Alexey Makhno atAMC Fight Nights 121 on July 14, 2023 |
| Georgiy Kichigin vacated the title when he signed forONE. | ||||
| 1 | Georgiy Kichigin def. Gadzhimurad Khiramagomedov | FNG 65 Astana,Kazakhstan | May 19, 2017 | 1. def. Magomed Nurov atFNG 80 on November 26, 2017 |
70 kg (155 lbs)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Alexander Sarnavskiy | AMC Fight Nights 123 Moscow,Russia | February 23, 2024 | |
| 4 | Magomed Sulumov def. Akhmed Aliev | AMC Fight Nights 121 Moscow,Russia | July 14, 2023 | |
| Nariman Abbasov vacated the title when he tested free agency. | ||||
| 3 |  Nariman Abbasovdef. Kuat Khamitov | FNG 93 Mytishchi,Russia | April 26, 2019 | 1. def. Mikhail Gogitidze atFNG 98 on September 25, 2020 2. def. Shamil Amirov atAMC Fight Nights 100 on April 10, 2021 3. def.Shamil Zavurov atAMC Fight Nights: Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov Memory Tournament on September 17, 2021 4. def. Marif Piraev atAMC Fight Nights 112 on June 10, 2022 |
| Akhmed Aliev vacated the title when he signed forPFL. | ||||
| 2 | Akhmed Aliev | FNG 83 Moscow,Russia | February 22, 2018 | |
| 1 | Magomedsaygid Alibekov def. Nariman Abbasov | FNG 56 Vladivostok,Russia | December 9, 2016 | 1. def. Kuat Khamitov atFNG 63 on April 21, 2017 |
66 kg (145 lbs)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khabibulin vacated the title when he signed forACA.[13] | ||||
| 3 | Gleb Khabibulin def. Arkadiy Osipyan | AMC FN 115 Sochi, Russia | October 14, 2022 | |
| Mukhamed Eminov vacated the title when he tested free agency. | ||||
| 2 | Mukhamed Eminov def. Aleksandr Grozin | Festival Stepping into Immortality Ekaterinburg,Russia | March 1, 2020 | 1. def. Muratbek Kasymbay atFNG / GFC on September 9, 2020 2. def. Akhmed Balkizov atFNG 99 on December 25, 2020 3. def. Roman Silagadze atAMC Fight Nights 105 on October 16, 2021 |
| Alexander Matmuratov vacated the title when he signed forACA. | ||||
| 1 | Alexander Matmuratov def. Ilya Kurzanov | FNG 62 Moscow, Russia | March 31, 2017 | 1. def. Evgeniy Ignatiev atFNG 81 on December 15, 2017 |
61 kg (135 lbs)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Sabit Zhusupov | AMC FN 115 Sochi, Russia | October 14, 2022 | 1. def. Wanderley Junior atAMC Fight Nights 122 on November 10, 2023[14] |
| 3 | Vladimir Egoyan def. Gustavo Erak | AMC Fight Nights: Sochi Sochi, Russia | February 23, 2021 | |
| Evgeniy Ignatiev vacated the title when he signed for RCC Boxing Promotions | ||||
| 2 | Evgeniy Ignatiev def. Nikita Boltabaev | FNG 94 Moscow,Russia | October 12, 2019 | |
| Tomáš Deák vacated the title when he signed for Oktagon MMA. | ||||
| 1 |  Tomáš Deákdef. Nikita Chistyakov | FNG 75 Moscow,Russia | October 6, 2017 | 1. def. Sharamazan Chupanov atFNG 84 on March 2, 2018 |
57 kg (125 lbs)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vartan Asatryan vacated the title when he signed forACA.[15] | ||||
| 5 | Vartan Asatryan def. Vladimir Alekseev | AMC Fight Nights 109 Sochi,Russia | February 23, 2022 | |
| Moris Boleyan vacated the title when he tested free agency. | ||||
| 4 | Moris Boleyan def. Anatoly Kondratyev | FNG Steel Heart XI Magnitogorsk,Russia | January 22, 2021 | 1. def. Azizkhan Chorshanbiev atAMC Fight Nights 103 on July 15, 2021 |
| Zhalgas Zhumagulov vacated the title when he signed forUFC. | ||||
| 3 | Zhalgas Zhumagulov | FNG 88 Astana,Kazakhstan | August 31, 2018 | 1. def.Ali Bagautinov atFNG 95 on October 19, 2019 |
| 2 | Tagir Ulanbekov | FNG 76 Moscow,Russia | October 8, 2017 | |
| 1 | Vartan Asatryan def.Zhalgas Zhumagulov | FNG 65 Astana,Kazakhstan | May 19, 2017 | |
61 kg (135 lbs)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Vacant | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Liana Jojua vacated the title when she signed forUFC. | ||||
| 1 |  Liana Jojuadef.Marina Mokhnatkina | FNG 83 Moscow,Russia | February 22, 2018 | |
This is a list of fighters who currently compete and have competed in the past for Fight Nights Global:
Ildemar AlcântaraSultan Aliev
Andrei ArlovskiAli BagautinovDiego BrandãoJulia Berezikova
Rich CrunkiltonFedor Emelianenko
Yasubey Enomoto
Efrain EscuderoMaiquel FalcãoVener Galiev
Peter GrahamMichael GravesMike HayesAli Isayev
Joanna JędrzejczykTony JohnsonIvan Jorge
Masanori KaneharaNikita KrylovAlexei KudinMurad MachaevRuslan MagomedovLevan MakashviliFábio MaldonadoDanny MartinezDerrick MehmenVitaly MinakovVladimir MineevRasul MirzaevMarina MokhnatkinaTyson NamEmanuel NewtonDiego Nunes
Valentijn OvereemRousimar Palhares
Viktor Pešta
Trevor PrangleyBrett RogersEddie SanchezAlexander SarnavskiyFabiano SchernerAlexander ShlemenkoKirill SidelnikovAntônio SilvaElias Silvério
Chommanee Sor Taehiran
Rameau Thierry SokoudjouDominique SteeleAkop StepanyanTim SylviaMichail TsarevAlbert TumenovShamil ZavurovProfessionalmixed martial arts organizations | |||||
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