ROAD FC 052 Results: Mansour Barnoui wins $1 Million Tournament with KO over Shamil Zavurov
ROAD FC 052 took place earlier this morning, live from the Jangchun Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea. In the main event, Mansour Barnaoui faced Shamil Zavurov in the finals of ROAD FC’s $1 Million Tournament. The co-main event saw a battle for bantamweight gold, as RIZIN veteran Jae Hoon Moon faced Min Woo Kim.
Mansour Barnaoui after winning the $1 Million Tournament. (Photo via ROAD Fighting Championship)
Shamil Zavurov and Mansour Barnaoui traded kicks and jabs to open the contest. After a bit of work, Barnaoui became comfortable in the clinch, but Zavurov went for his signature takedowns. The Frenchman did what few have done, though, as he was able to avoid a lot of the attempts and reverse the moves at multiple points in the fight. Zavurov had similar defensive success against Barnaoui’s risky triangle choke attempts.
The second round opened with Zavurov sniping and picking his shots excellently, but Barnaoui was a constant clinch threat. Zavurov was able to secure a takedown, but Barnaoui defended hard off his back. The two eventually stood up, and Zavurov looked for a takedown as a counter-measure to Barnaoui’s knee strike attempt, but the French fighter reversed at the bell.
In the third round, Mansour Barnaoui made magic. He perfectly timed a flying knee to knock Zavurov out cold. With this tournament win, Barnaoui wins $200,000 and earns a lightweight title shot against champion A-Sol Kwon. This fight takes place on May 18, winner takes home the title and $1 Million.
Min Woo Kim after being crowned new ROAD FC Bantamweight Champion. (Photo via ROAD fighting Championship)
Min Woo Kim simply made no mistakes against his two-time rival, Jae Hoon Moon. He stayed away from the early striking onslaught of Moon, went for the takedown, and was eventually able to maneuver into a triangle choke flawlessly. The win was filled with emotion as Min Woo Kim became the new ROAD FC Bantamweight Champion.
Bruno Miranda vs. Young Gi Hong was every bit as thrilling as expected. After an unfortunate groin shot that earned Miranda a yellow card, Hong took the full five minutes allowed to recover. When the fight began again, Hong violently surged back with two knockdowns, but Miranda stayed in the fight and returned the favor with punches that put Hong down and out. All of this happened in less than three minutes of action.
In a striker’s delight match-up, Ik Hwan Jang and Dae Young Jang came at one another and unloaded big, precise shots. Dae Young ended the first round on top, landing ground and pound. The second round was more calculated on both sides, and the third opened with crazy wrestling scrambles. Ik Hwan surged back and found big success late in the fight to secure the victory on the scorecards, where Dae Young had points deducted for missing weight.
Seung Yeon Kim brutally welcomed No Joo Gi back to the cage, knocking him out with the first punch of the fight just seven-seconds into round one.
In the opening main card match-up at openweight, Brazilian hitter Michel Pereira showed off backflips and spinning kicks against Dae Sung Kim, who tried his best to get inside the Brazilian’s much longer reach. Pereira came out to finish in the second round, letting loose some knees that were too much for Kim to handle for the stoppage.
Now, onto the preliminary portion of the card, Young Guns 41.
Hae Jun Yang and Dong Hwan Lim came out trading kicks, but once he was on the inside, Yang’s experience prevailed. He got a head and arm throw and worked strongly to secure a sick scarfhold armlock for the tap in round one.
Sang Jin Jung pressed the action in the first-round against Seung Min Shin, and the two came together with some brutal exchanges. In the second round, an odd finished came when Jung put Shin down with a powerful knee that the referee stopped the fight because of, much to Shin’s protest.
Grappler Jung Gi Hong was determined to get the fight to the ground early, but Tae Sung Kim had his number and was able to deliver a liver kick that secured him a big KO finish in round two.
Sung Soo Lee had a single leg takedown attempt going against Chang Hwan Hwang, but Hwang used a jumping knee to bloody the nose of Lee. After doing damage with the knee, Hwang got a near submission win off his back in the first round and then turned on the pressure big in the second with a knockdown before getting the TKO by way of ground and pound.
The night opened with two new, skilled, and young bantamweights with an action-packed bout that ended with Soo Wan Park earning a split decision over Jung Hyun Lee.
ROAD FC 052 Results:
Mansour Barnaoui def. Shamil Zavurov via KO (Flying Knee) in Round 3
Min Woo Kim def. Jae Hoon Moon via Submission (Triangle Choke) in Round 1
Bruno Miranda def. Young Gi Hong via TKO (Punches) in Round 1
Ik Hwan Jang def. Dae Young Jang via Unanimous Decision
Seung Yeon Kim def. No Joo Gi via TKO (Punches) in Round 1
Michel Pereira def. Dae Sung Kim via TKO (Knees) in Round 2
Young Guns 41 Results:
Hae Jun Yang def. Dong Hwan Lim via Submission (Scarfhold Armlock) in Round 1
Sang Jin Jung def. Seung Min Shin via TKO (Knee) in Round 2
Tae Sung Kim def. Jung Gi Hong via TKO (Kick) in Round 2
Chang Hwan Hwang def. Sung Soo Lee via TKO (Punches) in Round 2
Soo Wan Park def. Jung Hyun Lee via Split Decision
