ARES Fighting Championship Launching in Senegal
On December 14, 2019, ARES Fighting Championship will enter the combat sports world. ARES 1 is set to take place in Dakar, Senegal. The organization is the brain-child of Vivendi Sports and will be headed by Fernand Lopez, coach to UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou. ARES will be an Afro-Euro based MMA organization. The card contains several former UFC fighters as well as other noteworthy fighters from around the world. ARES Fighting Championship is set up for a huge debut event.
Debut Card
Main Event and Co-Main Event
ARES 1 will be headlined by a light heavyweight match-up between Brazilian UFC veteran Ildemar Alcantara (26-13) and Laurynas Urbonavicius (12-1). Alcantara always looks for the kill with 20 of his 26 wins via finish. He is currently on a four-fight winning streak dating back to August 2018. Urbonavicius is much the same, with 10 of his 12 victories coming by way of finish. It looks like the judges can take the night off when this bout kicks off. Both of these fighters push the pace and look to end the night as early as possible.
Undefeated Senegalese wrestling champion Oumar Kane will make his highly anticipated MMA debut at ARES 1. He is set for a heavyweight clash with Sofiane Boukichou (6-3) in the co-main event. Kane is a 120kg gold medalist in 2017 at ECOWAS hosted in Dakar. Former Cage Warriors fighter, Boukichou, has a grinding style with half of his victories coming by decision. It will be interesting to see the approach he takes with such a high-level wrestler. Being Kane’s debut it will make for an interesting bout against a seasoned fighter such as Boukichou.
Main Card Fighters to Watch
Other notable fighters on the card include Olympian Rizlen Zouak (3-1), undefeated social media star Jamila Sandora (5-0), DWCS and TUF vet Josh Parisian (10-3), and top Mexican fighter Nayib Lopez (11-0). Lopez is Tapology’s number one ranked middleweight in Mexico. He sports a grinding style with seven of his 11 wins coming by decision. Lopez can also sprinkle in the finish with four KO/TKOs on the resume.
Mantunga Djikasa (3-1) is also set to appear in heavyweight action. Djikasa is another finisher, sporting a 100% finish rate. Josh Parisian (10-3) is his opponent for the night. Parisian is a UFC veteran who could give Djikasa his first real test as a professional.
ARES 1 also has an amazing 135lb female fight on the card. Rizlen Zouak (3-1) is set to battle undefeated Jamila Sandora (5-0.) EFC Worldwide veteran, Zouak, is looking to rebound after her first defeat coming in May 2018. Sandora has yet to taste defeat as a professional, grinding out her last three victories in a row via unanimous decision.
Other Fighters to Watch
On the premils, Mairon Santos (7-0) is a fighter to keep an eye on. The young Brazilian has four KO/TKO wins on his record heading into ARES 1. All seven of his professional fights have come within 2019. Santos is riding a hot streak into this matchup and this could catapult him up the ARES rankings quickly. Baba Boundjou Nadjombe (7-1) is looking to derail Santos’ impressive 2019. The majority of Nadjombe’s victories have come by decision with his lone loss a first-round submission. Nadjombe is currently 3-0 in 2019 and would love to keep this run going.
Glenn Sparv (21-6) is a tenured veteran of this card with nearly 30 professional bouts. His opponent is Gregory Babene (19-11) with 30 professional bouts making this a matchup of veterans who know what they are doing in the cage. Sparv is a professional of almost 10 years with 14 of his 21 victories by way of KO/TKO. Babene is just as dangerous with 10 of his 19 wins coming by submission. He also has six KO/TKO wins sprinkled into his finish spectrum. Babene is riding a four-fight winning streak with the last three under the Bellator banner. He has also competed under the KSW and M-1 Challenge banners.
How to See ARES 1
ARES 1 will be available to watch all across the content of Africa on Canal+Sport and a worldwide broadcast partner will officially be announced at a later date.
***
Stay tuned right here at MMA Sucka for more live streams as well as videos highlighting the top fighters, commentators, coaches, promoters and other names in MMA and combat sports. We also bring you great offers on the latest MMA products and merchandise. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel for regular updates and all the latest fight news. You can also check out our sister site, at TheFightBuzz.com for the latest from the world of MMA and other combat sports.
