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MMA, ARES: Mickaël Lebout wins the duel of old against Karl Amoussou in -77kg

2022-12-09T08:56:44.241Z


REPORT - At the end of a pleasant evening despite a somewhat light poster, the two legends of French MMA fought a very intense fight. Mickaël Lebout emerged victorious.


At the Dome of Paris - Sports center

I wanted to show Karl that I was a different man today.

Put some respect on my name

.”

It is almost midnight in the room and yet 3500 people are still there, wild, to listen to the speech of a Mickaël Lebout (23v11n2d in career) big winner of this ARES 10 evening.

Professional since 2011, having notably fought in the UFC (one victory and two defeats), Lebout, 35, is coming out of three "

difficult

" months to get back up to speed.

He knows that the hour of sports retirement will ring soon.

And wants us to recognize his feats of arms before.

All my career, each time I won, the other in front was supposedly not at his level

, he argues in a press conference, first shirtless then dressed in a sweatshirt .

This evening, it was still great Amoussou.

I didn't expect him to take me to the ground so much at all.

My strategy was to let him get tired in the first round, to better pocket the next two.

And it paid off

.”

For a long time, the outcome of the fight was undecided.

Under the eyes of his daughter Alizée, barely 6 years old and who was watching her father's first fight in the stands, Karl Amoussou (26v10n3d), 37 years old, first tried to put a lot of rhythm.

He came to avenge his previous defeat, in the same room during the Ares 7 evening, where he had failed to take the belt of the welterweight division from Abdoul Abdouraguimov.

Karl Amoussou comes from another world: one where MMA was illegal in France, where you had to go fight abroad, where there was no structure in France.

If he didn't have the opportunity to fight at Pride or the UFC, he fought at Bellator and Cage warrior as well as at M-1, organizations of excellent level, so that he could only rely on himself.

The two fighters have known each other for years, rubbed shoulders in training, and offering them a main event fight at the Paris dome, to settle an old debate by finally deciding between them before they stop their careers, is a nice idea from the ARES league.

Read alsoHow the first UFC Paris wrote history: the story of an extraordinary evening

A little stronger than Lebout, Amoussou made a series of takedown attempts but was unable to exploit them, neither in blows nor in keys, and wasted precious energy.

His ground-and-pound is barren.

Opposite, Lebout wavers but does not bend.

Under the acclamations of the room, which chose its camp - “

Micka!

Mica!

-, the native of Vitry-sur-Seine wants to avoid striking and waits for his more massive opponent to get tired.

At the beginning of the 2nd Lebout is more offensive and connects some well felt blows which leave Amoussou... blunt.

But not KO so far.

Both fighters know that the difference will be made in the 3rd round.

They check each other, harangue together the crowd who asks only that.

Lebout is the only one still able to accelerate, but not enough to complete Amoussou.

The 15 minutes of fight pass, the decision of the judges will prevail.

And she is unanimous in favor of Lebout.

Final score: 30-27.

Flattering for the loser.

Amoussou, a handsome player, declares on the microphone that “

it was a real war, but a healthy one.

I wanted it, I needed it.

I knew that Mickaël had a very good reading of the game, I couldn't find the key

.

Kudos to him.

 »

Other surprising and attractive fights

For Fernand "

Le King

" Lopez, boss of the Ares Fighting Championship, this fight will have kept all its promises.

Or almost: “

He missed a bit of technique on the Amoussou side, on the heel key and the brushes.

But Lebout knows him well… I myself lost 500 euros after betting on a knockout by Amoussou in the 1st round

(laughs).

I want to salute his bravery

.

It takes guts to climb back into the cage

.

“Cyril Gane's coach is also pleased that the evening, as a whole, “

was successful.

No serious injuries are to be deplored, the places fly away, the requests of the personalities

(Vincent Cassel, Ahmed Sylla, Franck Gastambide were, among others, present Ed)

having nothing to do with MMA too, the TV broadcast extends to Africa… not to mention the other fight in the main event.

»

He opposed, in a duel of different styles in bantamweight, the Frenchman Moustapha Aida to the Angolan Demarte Pena.

The latter, for his second fight at ARES, won in pain, betting everything on grappling.

There was a lot of pressure.

I am happy to be back, I fought a very difficult opponent

, he underlines.

He was particularly aggressive in the 3rd round.

The French don't really like foreign fighters, so it was difficult for me, but I understand, you have to put up with yours

(smile).

Read alsoMMA: rules, cage, dangerousness ... understand everything about this booming combat sport

Finally, great fights also took place in the

main card

, including "

the diamond, Vlad Gutu

", as Fernand Lopez likes to call him, in the middleweight category

.

The young Moldovan, who could count on some support, flag in support, literally dispatched his Brazilian opponent Marcio Martins in 25 seconds.

In boxing first, by chaining the punches, then with the feet.

Gutu made an impression, as did another Frenchman, Paulin Begai, who crowned his victory against the Italian Paolo Anastasi with several “

Here, it's Paris!

“, echoed in chorus by the room.

His ultra-aggressive strategy, barely the clock started, allowed him to win in light-heavyweight less than two minutes from the end of the first round, after a series of left-right hooks.

Yet another emotion of an evening more spectacular than the line-up could have imagined on paper, even if the last-minute cancellation of the promising Assia Miri's fight left the public hungry.

Source: lefigaro

All sports articles on 2022-12-09

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