May was not a pleasant month for the majority of the Brits Abroad.
UFC veteran and #3 ranked UK heavyweight Phil De Fries (12-6-0) made the unenviable trip across Europe to Moscow, where he challenged the unbeaten Ivan “Ural Hulk” Shytrykov (10-0-0). Unfortunately for DeFries, Shytrykov would keep his perfect record in tact, pounding out the Englishman in just under two minutes. The bout headlined RCC Boxing Promotions event.
The following weekend a pair of Brits trekked south of the equator to Johannesburg, for EFC 59. In the co-main event, Joe “Silk” Cummins (4-1-0) of UTC ran through Shaun De Lange (4-3-0), forcing him to submit with a rear-naked choke in the very first round.
Welshman Azi “One Bomb” Thomas (9-3-1) also featured on EFC 59, drawing with Pierre Botha (7-4-1) of South Africa.
Meanwhile, over in Malta, Centurion Fight Championship hosted their debut event. English lightweight Steve Cook (1-3-0) fought debuting Dutchman Roel Pieter Daniel (1-0-0) at the event, however, the bout was wave off during the first round after Cook suffered a cut.
#7 ranked Andy “The Lion’s Paw” De-Vent (15-11-0) received a significant halt to his career resurgence, after Arbi Aguev (28-7-0) lit him up with strikes just 21-seconds into their middleweight encounter. The bout headlined ACB 60, which was held in Vienna.
Shaj Haque (9-3-0) fought for the very first time on foreign shores in May, travelling to Kazakhstan for Fight Nights Global 65th event. Haque, who currently sits at #3 in our UK MMA Flyweight rankings, was paired with unbeaten Russian Tagir Ulanbekov (6-0-0), whom he lost a unanimous decision too.
Just two days later, Fight Nights Global travelled to Dagestan for their second event in three days. Englishman Dez Parker (9-6-0) fought Russian standout Aigun Akhmedov (19-2-0) at the event, losing in controversial fashion after the referee waived the fight off in the second stanza, after Parker complained of an eye poke.
Norman Parke (23-6-1) was also involved in controversy, as he was awarded with a unanimous decision loss for his efforts against Mateusz Gamrot (13-0-0). Parke controlled most of the action for rounds two and three of the title tilt, but it was not enough to sway the judges in attendance. The bout was part of KSW 39: Colloseum, Europe’s largest MMA event to date.
Last but certainly not least was Darren Till (14-0-1), who returned from a 19-month lay-off to beat German Jessin Ayari (16-4-0) at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixiera, which was held in Stockholm. Till outclassed Ayari on the feet, dropping him several times en-route to a clear-cut unanimous decision win.
