Bruce Boyington’s mixed martial arts foray into Russia ran head first into a veteran wrestler Saturday, and Musa Khamanaev used that grappling background to score a three-round unanimous decision in the main event of “ACB 43: The Battle for Sura.”
The 28-year-old Khamanaev, from Grozny, Chechen Republic, won 30-27 on each of the three judges’ scorecards in the lightweight bout held at the Diesel Arena in Penza, Russia, approximately 390 miles south of Moscow.
Khamanaev won for the ninth time in his last 10 bouts and improved his record to 17-4.
Boyington, the former New England Fights lightweight champion who trains out of Young’s MMA in Bangor, fell to 14-9 overall after falling for just the second time in his last 10 bouts.
The fight was available to local MMA fans via YouTube live streaming.
Boyington attempted to attack Khamanaev with his striking game — particularly an array of kicks — early in each round but Khamanaev patiently waited out his opportunities to take the Mainer down.
Khamanaev eventually was able to get the match to the mat within the first 90 seconds of each round where he smothered Boyington and largely maintained control with positioning and some striking.
The 37-year-old Boyington proved to be a game opponent, continually working to get back to his feet and attempting submission moves on Khamanaev throughout the three five-minute rounds, but he could not inflict enough damage from the standing position to prevent Khamanaev from eventually implementing his freestyle wrestling skills.
Boyington, who had scored three of his last four victories by split decision, is poised to embark on a four-fight contract with the World Series of Fighting promotion. He already has a 2-0 record in World Series of Fighting bouts, both coming in the last 10 months.
