MMA: Irfan upstages Sachin

MUMBAI: Mumbai boy Irfan Khan stretched his unbeaten MMA streak to five wins, getting the better of Sachin Panwar in a fiercely fought bantamweight battle of Super Fight League 16 on Friday.

Going into the bout a favourite, Khan found a tough opponent in Panwar whose resilience stretched the fight to three rounds before the judges ruled against him.

Another entertainer was the flyweight bout that had Arun Nagar pitted against Manoj Chauhan. The lanky and inexperienced Nagar took the fight to Chauhan despite the latter's constant takedowns.

Nagar kept wriggling out of possible submissions and was swift to counter attack at every given chance, doing just enough for the judges to rule in his favour at the end of three rounds.

In the sole women's clash, Ukrainian Lena Ovchynnikova proved too strong for young Fatiha Mostafa from Egypt, forcing the latter to tap out from a guillotine choke in the first round.