DIMAPUR — The Tribe Fighting Championship (TFC) fighters delivered spectacular performances in front of a packed crowd at the Indoor Badminton Stadium, DC Court, Dimapur, on Saturday night.
In the main event (68 kg catchweight category), headliner Neitso Angami secured victory over Afghanistan's Jawed Amhadi by unanimous decision.
In the first round, both fighters exchanged kicks as they studied each other's movements. Angami successfully landed a few punches while on the ground. The second round saw a shift to a strong grappling game, with both fighters coming close to securing rear-naked chokes. However, both were able to escape from these dangerous positions, with Angami largely controlling the takedowns throughout the round.
In the third round, Angami appeared slightly fatigued, which allowed Amhadi to land a couple of overhand punches. Aside from that, not much action occurred in the final round.
The co-main event of the night featured exhilarating MMA action, with Aboto Ayemi winning against Nikunj Sharma by unanimous decision. He displayed a dominant performance throughout all three rounds, especially in ground-and-pound.
Arsenba Ozukum suffered a loss to Ebiangmi Langstang, who claimed victory by majority decision. Ozukum began strong in the first round, knocking Langstang to the canvas with a powerful leg kick. However, Langstang quickly recovered and adjusted his strategy, shifting the fight into a grappling contest from that point onwards.
Ozukum struggled against his opponent's overpowering grappling and was unable to withstand the relentless takedown pressure. In the end, Langstang emerged victorious.
In the 61.2 kg bantamweight bout, Michael Rovei from Manipur secured a TKO victory over Jonibor Tron from Meghalaya in just 3:54 minutes of the first round. Early in the round, Tron managed to wobble Rovei with a powerful overhand punch.
However, Rovei quickly recovered, taking Tron to the ground and unleashing a brutal ground-and-pound assault, which prompted the referee to step in and declare a TKO.
Mairidin Newmai from Nagaland achieved a TKO victory over Carrmore Rumnong from Meghalaya in just 3:26 minutes of the first round. Newmai landed a clean punch that hurt Rumnong, followed by an unyielding ground-and-pound attack that concluded the fight.
In the undercard's first submission grappling bout in the under 58 kg category, Thanmi and Mandeep fought to a draw, as neither grappler was able to secure a submission in the six-minute contest.
In the exhibition boxing bout of the 68 kg category, Vanlalhriatrenga delivered an entertaining performance, dominating the first round. The same momentum carried into the second round, a blistering exchange of punches that ultimately forced Abemo to give up, resulting in a TKO victory for Vanlalhriatrenga in the second round.
In the amateur kickboxing match in the 56.7 kg category between Ankan from Guwahati and Donbok from Meghalaya, Ankan won the match by TKO in 2:23 minutes in the third round
In the professional kickboxing match in the 52 kg category, Vipu from Nagaland needed only 36 seconds to grap a TKO win over Nawaz from Manipur.
Right from the start, Vipu launched an aggressive attack, landing a clean leg kick that wobbled his opponent and he followed up with a barrage of fierce punches, prompting the referee to step in and stop the fight.
The Taekwondo exhibition bout, which was included for the first time inside the MMA cage, featuring D. Khuwoto and Ram Bahadur, was declared a draw by the judges.