Fight Nights Global continues to make waves. Having just inked Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva to face standout heavyweight and former Bellator MMA champ Vitaly Minakov, the promotion has now picked up a pair of other notable names in former UFC fighters Ali Bagautinov and Rousimar Palhares. CEO Kamil Gadzhiev confirmed the news to MMAFighting Thursday.
Bagautinov (14–5) was recently released by the UFC following a loss to fellow flyweight contender Kyoji Horiguchi this past November. The Dargin-Russian flyweight fought Demetrious Johnson for the UFC’s flyweight championship at UFC 174 back in 2014. He lost the bout by unanimous decision, then failed a post-fight drug test for EPO. He would go 1-2 after returning from suspension.
According to Gadzhiev via MMAFighting, Bagautinov will face bantamweight standout Tyson Nam April 29 in Moscow, headlining the promotion’s 64th event.
Phalares (18–8), meanwhile, remains a controversial figure in the MMA world. The heel hook specialist has repeatedly been suspended for holding on to submissions too long, and was booted from the UFC for doing just that after defeating Mike Pierce in October of 2013. The infraction was his second late submission release under the UFC banner, as an earlier incident cost him a 90 day suspension in the wake of his UFC 111 fight against Tomasz Drwal.
Apparently having yet to learn his lesson, Palhares would sign of with Ray Sefo’s World Series of Fighting promotion, winning their welterweight title. However, in his second title defense at WSOF 22 in August 2015, Palhares refused to let go of a kimura on Jake Shields. He was subsequently stripped of the title, and suspended two years by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
As Russia has no reciprocal agreement with American athletic commissions, Palhares is free to fight there, though it remains to be seen whether that will increase the length of his suspension stateside, which is still ongoing.
Palhares is 0-2 is his first two fights outside of the WSOF, having been knocked out under the Venator FC and KSW banners. No date for his Fight Nights debut has been announced.
