Last Saturday night, December 14 in Dakar, Senegal the very first ARES Fighting Championship event – ARES 1 – took place with a historic outdoor event flanked by the iconic Museum of Black Civilisation and Dakar Grand National Theatre.
Around 5,000 fans, many witnessing MMA for the very first time gathered and watched on as an incredible night of mixed martial arts action took place in the ARES Arena.
In the main event ‘Captain Lithuania’ Laurynas Urbonavicius (13-1) put on a stellar display as he dominated UFC veteran Ildemar Alcantara (26-14) over the course of three rounds to win a unanimous decision.
The co-main event saw the birth of a new MMA star as undefeated heavyweight Senegalese wrestling champion ‘Reug Reug’ (1-0), real name Oumar Kane, dismantled the more experienced Sofiane Boukichou (6-4). Kane used his wrestling and raw power throughout the contest with a number of huge slams before finishing Boukichou via TKO in the second round.
Elsewhere on the card we saw incredible performances from the Lapilus brothers. Taylor Laplius improved to 16-3 with a superb striking display and outpointed Brazilian prodigy Marcos Breno (12-2) to score a unanimous decision while Damian Lapilus (17-12) finished durable Polish UFC veteran Lukasz Sajewski (14-5) with punches right at the end of the second round.
Despite a rocky start, American heavyweight Josh Parisian (11-3) breezed to second-round TKO in his contest, France’s Gregory Babene (20-11) secured an impressive second-round submission over tough Finnish fighter Glenn Sparv (21-7), Noussourdine Imavov (8-2) won the biggest fight of his career by finishing Canadian UFC vet Jonathan Meunier (9-2) via first-round TKO, and both the Ivory Coasts’ Djati Melan (7-0) and Brazil’s Mairon Santos (8-0) won their respective bouts and remained undefeated.
ARES 1 Results
Dakar, Senegal – December 14
Main Event
Light Heavyweight
Laurynas Urbonavicius (13-1) def. Ildemar Alcantara (26-14) via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-25, 29-28)
Co-Main Event
Heavyweight
Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane (1-0) def. Sofiane Boukichou (6-4) via TKO (punches), round 2, 1:20
Bantamweight
Taylor Lapilus (16-3) def. Marcos Breno (12-2) via unanimous decision (30-26 x 2, 29-28)
Middleweight
Gregory Babane (20-11) def. Glenn Sparv (21-7) via submission (triangle), round 2. 2:04
Catchweight 80kg
Noussourdine Imavov (8-2) def. Jonathan Meunier (9-2) via TKO (punches), round 1, 4:27
Noussourdine Imavov (8-2) def. Jonathan Meunier (9-2) via TKO (punches), round 1, 4:27
Lightweight
Damien Lapilus (17-12-2) def. Lukasz Sajewski (14-5) via TKO (punches), round 2, 4:59
Prelims
Middleweight: Djati Melan (7-0) def. Eslam Syaha (9-2) via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Lightweight: Mairon Santos (8-0) def. Baba Nadjombe (7-2) via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Post-lims
Women’s Bantamweight: Rizlen Zouak (3-1) vs. Jamila Sandora (5-0) – No-Contest (cage floor hazardous due to humidity)
Heavyweight: Josh Parisian (11-3) def. Matunga Djikasa (3-2) via TKO (punches), round 2, 4:16
ARES 2 will take place in 2020. Date and location TBA over the coming weeks.
