Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2021-10-23, some good single shots but it is not enough to get three stars: the mma fight Vitaly Minakov vs Said Sowma gets two (take a look at our ranking of the Best Mma Fights of 2021).
Sowma vs Minakov is on the undercard of Fedor Emelianenko vs Timothy Johnson – Bellator 269 (also known as Bellator Moscow). Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2019-08-24, one sided fight between Vitaly Minakov and Timothy Johnson: it gets two stars.The black belt in judo, former Bellator and world combat sambo champion Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a pro mma record of 21-1-0 (90% finishing rate) and he is ranked as the No.25 heavyweight in the world but he comes off his first loss, suffered against Cheick Kongo in their rematch (Vitaly Minakov vs Cheick Kongo 2); before this bout, in 2017, he had beat Tony Johnson (Vitaly Minakov vs Tony Johnson).
His opponent, Timothy Johnson (who replaces Javy Ayala), has a record of 12-5-0 (75% finishing rate) and he entered as the No.50 in the same weight class but he won just three out of his last seven bouts. He fought twice last year beating Marcelo Golm (Timothy Johnson vs Marcelo Golm) and losing to Cheick Kongo (Cheick Kongo vs Timothy Johnson). Minakov vs Johnson is on the undercard of Matt Mitrione vs Sergei Kharitonov 2 – Bellator 225. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2019-02-16, fight not so exciting between Vitaly Minakov and Cheick Kongo 2: it gets two stars.The undefeated black belt in judo, former Bellator and world combat sambo champion Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a perfect mma record of 21-0-0 (90% finishing rate) but he is not ranked as he hasn’t fought since December 16, 2017 when he beat Tony Johnson (Vitaly Minakov vs Tony Johnson); before this bout, in 2017, he had also won over DJ Linderman (Minakov vs Linderman) and Antonio Bigfoot Silva (Minakov vs Silva).
His opponent, the black belt in karate and kendo Cheick Kongo, has an official record of 29-10-2 (62% finishing rate) and he entered as the No.14 heavyweight in the world. He lost to Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal in 2015 (Lawal vs Kongo) but then he has won seven bouts beating Javi Ayala (Cheick Kongo vs Javy Ayala) and Timothy Johnson (Cheick Kongo vs Timothy Johnson). In their first fight Kongo was defeated by Minakov via unanimous decision (April 4, 2014 – Vitaly Minakov vs Cheick Kongo I); this second bout is on the undercard of Michael Page vs Paul Daley – Bellator 216. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2017-12-16, pretty good finish between Vitaly Minakov and Tony Johnson but it is not enough to get three stars: it gets two.The undefeated black belt in judo, former Bellator and world combat sambo champion Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a perfect mma record of 20-0-0 (90% finishing rate) and he is ranked as the No.18 heavyweight in the world. He has fought twice in 2017 beating DJ Linderman (=Minakov vs Linderman) and Antonio Bigfoot Silva (=Minakov vs Silva).
His opponent, Tony Johnson, has a record of 11-3-0 (55% ko/tko victory rate – he has never won via submission) and he entered as the No.26 in the same weight class. He lost to Cheick Kongo last year (=Kongo vs Johnson) but he came back to win in 2017 with Magomedbag Agaev. Minakov vs Johnson is the main event of Fight Nights Global 82 – FNG 82. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2017-06-02, pretty good finish between Vitaly Minakov and Antonio Silva but it is not enough to get three stars: it gets two.The undefeated black belt in judo, former Bellator and world combat sambo champion Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a perfect mma record of 19-0-0 (89% finishing rate) and he is ranked as the No.19 heavyweight in the world. He fought just once last year beating Peter Graham (=Minakov vs Graham) and then he has defeated DJ Linderman in 2017 (=Minakov vs Linderman).
His opponent, the black belt in judo, karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, has a record of 19-11-1 (89% finishing rate) and he entered as the No.35 in the same weight class but he won just one out of his last nine bouts, against Soa Palelei in 2015 (=Silva vs Palelei). After this fight he lost four fights, the last one with Ivan Shtyrkov (=Bigfoot vs Shtyrkov). Vitaly Minakov vs Antonio Bigfoot Silva is on the undercard of Sergey Pavlovich vs Mikhail Mokhnatkin – FNG 68. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2017-02-23, tough fight with an exciting finish: Vitaly Minakov vs DJ Linderman is close to get four stars!The undefeated black belt in judo, former Bellator and world combat sambo champion Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a perfect mma record of 18-0-0 (89% finishing rate) and he is ranked as the No.18 heavyweight in the world. He fought just once in 2016 beating Peter Graham (=Minakov vs Graham).
His opponent, DJ Linderman, has an official record of 20-11-0 (55% finishing rate) and he entered as the No.75 in the same weight class but he lost two out of his last three fights, against Josh Copeland and Fabiano Scherner. After this bout he has defeated Derrick Mehmen. Vitaly Minakov vs DJ Linderman is the main event of Eurasia Fight Nights 59. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2016-06-17, pretty good finish between Vitaly Minakov and Peter Graham but it is not enough to get three stars: it gets two.The undefeated black belt in judo, former Bellator and world combat sambo champion Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a perfect record of 17-0-0 (88% finishing rate) and he is ranked as the No.14 heavyweight in the world. He fought three times last year winning over Adam Maciejewski, Geronimo dos Santos (=Minakov vs dos Santos) and Josh Copeland (=Minakov vs Copeland).
His opponent, the black belt in karate and former ISKA kickboxing world champion Peter Graham, has a mma record of 11-9-0 (91% ko/tko victory rate – he has never won via submission) and he entered as the No.42 in the same weight class but he won just two out of his last six bouts, against Marcin Rozalski in 2014 (=Graham vs Rozalski) and Mariusz Pudzianowski in 2015 (= Pudzianowski vs Graham). Minakov vs Graham is on the undercard of Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabio Maldonado – EFN 50. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2015-12-11, good fight between Vitaly Minakov and Josh Copeland: it gets three stars.The undefeated black belt in judo, former world combat sambo and Bellator Hw champion Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a perfect record of 16-0-0 (87% finishing rate) and he is ranked as the No.15 heavyweight in the world. He has fought twice in 2015 beating Adam Maciejewski and Geronimo dos Santos (=Minakov vs dos Santos).
His opponent, Josh Copeland, has an official mma record of 9-2-0 (78% finishing rate) and he entered as the No.76 in the same weight class but he comes off two consecutive losses: against Ruslan Magomedov and Jared Rosholt. Minakov vs Copeland is the main event of “EFN – Fight Nights Battle 20”. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2015-09-25, pretty good fight between Vitaly Minakov and Geronimo ‘Mondragon’ dos Santos: it gets three stars.The undefeated black belt in judo and Bellator Hw champion Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a perfect mma record of 15-0-0 (87% finishing rate) and he is ranked as the No.13 heavyweight in the world while his opponent, Geronimo dos Santos, has an official record of 36-15-0 (94% finishing rate). Minakov defended his Bellator Hw belt at the end of 2014 against Cheick Kongo (=Minakov vs Kongo) and then he defeated Adam Maciejewski. Minakov vs ‘Mondragon’ dos Santos is the main event of EFN Dagestan. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Review: 2014-04-04, fight not particularly good between Vitaly Minakov and Cheick Kongo: it gets two stars. The undefeated Vitaly Minakov entered this fight with a perfect mma record of 13-0-0 (92% finishing rate) and he is ranked as the No.10 heavyweight in the world, he is a black belt in judo and four times Sambo world champion, last year he fought three times and in his last bout he won the Bellator Hw title beating Alexander Volkov (by tko in the first round: Volkov vs Minakov).
His opponent, Cheick Kongo, has an official record of 20-8-2 (70% finishing rate) and he entered as the No.17 in the same weight class (currently the #1 in this division is Cain Velasquez). Kongo fought in the Ufc from 2006 to 2013 when he lost to Roy Nelson and he was released from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (=Nelson vs Kongo); after that bout he fought and won twice for the Bellator promotion. Minakov vs Kongo, main event of Bellator 115, is valid for the Bellator heavyweight title (Minakov’s first defense). Watch the video and rate this fight!
