ACB 45 took place in St Petersburg, Russia and there was no end of talking points.
 

Knockouts Galore

 
The main event and co-main event both produced scintillating knockouts as Zabit Magomedsharipov spinning back kicked Valdines Silva to oblivion in the headline act, while Oleg Borisov finished Tural Ragimov's night early with a devastating left hand in the penultimate fight.
 
You can judge for yourself which of the two was better--was it Magomedsharipov's spinning back kick?
 
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/MMA_Jim/status/777216298984042496" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
 
or was it Borisov's stiff left hand?
 
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/MMA_Jim/status/777210528246685696" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
 

A rare Flying Triangle submission

 
Russian fighter Murad Kalamov pulled off an outstanding flying triangle submission over Kazakhstan's Denis Mutsnek on the preliminary portion of the card.
 
The fight began with two engaging in a back-and-forth standup battle where neither seemed to have supremacy. After a few minutes of exchanges, the Russian Kalamov went for a rare jumping triangle submission attempt that caught Mutsnek totally off guard.
 
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/MMA_Jim/status/777188193464684545" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
 
It occurred half way through that round as the two moved towards the fence. Out of nowhere, Kalamov threw his body through the air and wrapped his legs around the head of his foe. After a light adjustment of the position, the Russian pulled on the on the back of Mustnek’s neck to create the pressure and constrict the blood flow from the carotid arteries to the brain.
 
The hold was obviously too much for Mustnek to handle. Before passing out, the Kazakhstani tapped the mat to signal his submission and in doing so, he handed Kalamov the victory.

 Controversy - low blow or body kick?

 
The fight between Magomed Khamzaev and Taichi Nakajima finished in controversy as the Japanese man was denied a clear stoppage in the first round of the fight. Nakajima appeared to win the fight when he sent the Russian crashing to the mat as he hit him in the midsection with a stiff body kick to the liver.  
 
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/MMA_Jim/status/777186598341513216" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
 
Khamzaev however, convinced the referee that it was to the groin and thus was given timeout to recover. The fight eventually went to the judges were the Russian was given the nod on the scorecards in highly controversial fashion. Was it a body kick? Or was it a groin shot? You decide.
 
Full ACB 45 Results

Main Card

Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Valdines Silva via TKO (strikes), Round 1
Oleg Borisov def. Tural Ragimov via KO (strike), Round 2
Ustarmagomed Gadjidaudov def. Alexander Sarnavskiy via KO (strike), Round 2
Andrei Koshkin def. Ramazan Esenbaev via unanimous decision
Muslim Makhmudov def. Hans Stringer via KO (tap out due to strike), Round 1

Preliminary fights

Magomed Ginazov def. Alexander Pletenko via unanimous decision
Malik Merad def. Isa Umarov via TKO (strikes), Round 2
Rasul Shovhalov def. Vyacheslav Ten via TKO (knees), Round 1
Murad Kalamov def. Denis Mutsnek via submission (flying triangle), Round 1
Magomed Khamzaev def. Taichi Nakajima via unanimous decision
Filip Macek def. Khamid Sultanbiev via Submission (leglock), Round 3
Alim Cherkesov def. Abkerim Yunusov via TKO (strikes), Round 1