Delhi Heroes produced a huge upset last night in the Super Fight League when they defeated Bengaluru Tigers in the semi-finals of Super Fight League 2018. Bengaluru Tigers came into the semi-finals without tasting a defeat in the group stages but this momentum was put to rest by a resilient Delhi team.
The opening fight of the night went down between Dhruv Chaudhary and Sanjeet Budhwar. Dhruv, who was undefeated throughout this season, was the clear favorite. But Sanjeet produced a shocking stoppage to give Delhi a five-point lead.
Confusion unfolded in the second fight between Vikas Singh and Vikas Dahiya. An accidental groin kick from Vikas Dahiya made the referee to rule the fight as a no-contest. As a result, both the teams weren’t given any points for the fight.
The Women’s Flyweight fight improved Delhi’s lead to 10 points as Jennifer submitted Preeti Shah with an armbar. The match further slipped away from the hands of Bengaluru when Abdul Azim Badakhshi produced the KO of the season.
The Afghani fighter knocked out Sascha Sharma with a flying knee in the third and ensured that his undefeated record this season was intact. The KO win gave Delhi another six points and took their lead to a whopping 16 points. This was also Badakshi’s sixth-straight stoppage win.
With a win out of question, the Bengaluru fighters produced some resistance in the last two fights. David Duarte stopped Suraj Bahadur in the first round via a TKO when Jose Santos submitted Maiwant Timori in the first. These two wins helped Bengaluru earn four and five points respectively. The final points tally stood at 16-9 in favor of Delhi.
Delhi will now face the winner of UP Nawabs vs. Haryana Sultans showdown which is scheduled to take place on Sunday night.
Below are the complete results from the event:
- Sanjeet Budwhar (Delhi Heroes) def. Dhruv Chaudhary (Bengaluru Tigers) via first-round TKO
- Vikas Singh Ruhil (Bengaluru Tigers) vs Vikas Dahiya (Delhi Heroes) ended in No contest
- Jennifer Gonzalez Araneda (Delhi Heroes) def. Preeti Shah (Bengaluru Tigers) via First round submission
- Abdul Azim Badakhshi (Delhi Heroes) def. Sascha Sharma (Bengaluru Tigers) via third round KO
- David Alex Duarte (Bengaluru Tigers) def. Suraj Bahadur (Delhi Heroes) via first-round TKO
- Jose Aparecido Santos Gomes (Bengaluru Tigers) def. Maiwand Timori (Delhi Heroes) via first round submission