Fighting out Moscow, Russia, Sergey “Honda” Khandozhko, 25, was one of the winners at “UFC Fight Night 153.” It was the Russian mixed martial artist’s first victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Featuring 12 MMA matches, “UFC Fight Night 153” took place at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden on June 1, 2019. In the seventh bout of the evening, Khandozhko fought Rostem Akman, 27, of Sweden in the welterweight division with Leon Roberts as the referee.
Throughout the first round, Akman pressured Khandozhko, who was busy with his standup attack. In the second round, the Russian contender tried to slow his Swedish opponent’s forward motion through leg attacks.
After three five-minute rounds, the welterweight contest was left in the hands of the three judges, who unanimously scored it 29-28. In the end, Roberts raised the hand of Khandozhko, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
Winning at “UFC Fight Night 153” improved the professional MMA record of Santos to 17 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. He is the first fighter to defeat Akman, who now has 6 wins and 1 loss.
“It was incredible,” Khandozhko said in his post-fight interview. “It was a tough fight (with) a lot of exchanges. We both went at it but I’m happy I got this win.”
“It’s a wonderful emotion,” the Moscow native added. “Fighting at my opponent’s home wasn’t a problem for me.”
Originally, Khandozhko was set to face Bartosz “The Butcher” Fabiński, 33, of Warsaw, Poland at “UFC Fight Night 153.” The Polish contender was pulled out from the card due to injury and was replaced by Akman.
Born in Russia on May 19, 1992, Khandozhko has been competing professionally since 2011. Before joining the UFC, he competed in Absolute Championship Berkut, Golden Team Championship and Sambo 70, among others.
While Akman was one of the five hometown heroes who competed at “UFC Fight Night 153,” Khandozhko solely represented Russia. Both fighters made their respective UFC debuts.
Including Russia and Sweden, 15 countries were represented at “UFC Fight Night 153.” The other countries were Austria, Brazil, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Northern Mariana Islands, Scotland, Serbia, South Korea, Spain and the United States.
Watch the “UFC Fight Night 153” press conference here:
CONAN Daily 