Hexagone MMA 45: Why Did Anzor Silence the Whole Room?

98 seconds: the blast that settled three years of rivalry

The walkout of Anzor Baybatyrov is met with boos. The arena is behind Paul Denis Navero, aka Paul Dena, the darling of the evening. No one sees the spark coming.

It starts with an inside low kick on the right leg. Dena staggers, unbalanced. Anzor doesn’t wait: double hook, right then left, and the Lyon finisher collapses.

The ground follow-up is immediate. Referee Christophe Chapuis stops the fight at 1:38 of the first round. One short fuse, just one, and the blaze explodes in the wrong direction for Lyon.

The verdict is heavy with meaning. Paul Dena takes the first loss of his professional career and goes from 3-0 to 3-1. Opposite, Anzor climbs to 7-2 and signs one of the cleanest KOs of the year in France.

From boos to respect: the night Anzor overturned Lyon

The furnace suddenly froze. An entire arena, standing for Dena, fell silent in less than two minutes. The shock, as much as the KO.

Then Anzor took the microphone. Not to taunt, but to defuse. He spoke to those who had booed him at the entrance.

The two men embraced in the center of the cage. Three years of tension extinguished with one gesture. Anzor entered as a public enemy; he left to applause.

Sima, Azizoun, Ozturk: the card that kept the blaze alive

Before the final blaze, the co-main had already heated the arena. Samba Sima, a 22-year-old French prospect, faced scares on the ground against Leonardo de Oliveira. He finished strong.

TKO by strikes at 3:46 of the first round, record improved to 4-0, and a belt demanded with microphone in hand. Sima is moving fast, and he knows it.

The rest of the card fueled the evening without downtime. Anas Azizoun submitted Youssouf Ouattara by rear-naked choke in the 2nd round (4:38). Muhammed-Fatih Ozturk dispatched Nezar Bahaji by KO/TKO in the first round (2:06).

Damien Lapilus won on points against Ryan Eren Agbo, in a more wrestling than spectacle style. Unanimous decisions also for Allan Landouzy and Malik Bendaho, quick submissions signed by Nessim Khettou and Tamerlan Albiekov. The only shadow: the women’s fight Grandjean - Aschenbrenner, canceled for medical reasons.

And now? Orange, Paris and the future of Hexagone MMA

The machine doesn’t slow down. Hexagone MMA, number one in the discipline in France, chains events and fills arenas. Lyon was just a step.

Next stop at the Ancient Theatre of Orange in August, in an open-air setting. Then the lightweight tournament final with €100,000 prize, expected in Paris in September.

The burning question already on social media: will Dena bounce back after this first defeat? And Anzor, now respected, will he turn this upset into lasting rise? The replay loops on RMC Sport, the answer will be written in the cage.