The co-main event of Phoenix 6 featuring former UFC fighter Hayder Hassan against Pavel Kusch ended in a split decision victory for Hassan.

The event took place on April 5 at Du Forum, Abu Dhabi. It was headlined by a title fight putting Mohammad Karaki vs. Salah Dekhissi and was aired LIVE in MBC Action.

As round 1 began, Hassan immediately took the center of the cage, swinging a few wild hooks at Kusch which forced him to walk backwards against the cage. Kusch exploded into a takedown, but is not able to keep Hassan down. A few strikes are thrown from both fighters, but once again Kusch shoots in on Hassan, this time taking him down and immediately wrapping his hands around his back. Hassan keeps scrambling to release himself from the tight body buckle of Kusch and is finally successful in doing so, not allowing Kusch to produce any damage. Kusch once again shoots low, scoring a takedown, but is barely able to keep Hassan grounded and the round ends with both fighters swinging heavy at each other.

The game-plan is even more obvious in Round 2. Kusch shoots in on Hassan, but Hassan’s takedown defense is spot on, disengaging or scrambling his way back to his feet. Kusch starts shooting even lower towards the ankles of Hassan, but to no avail. By mid-round, Hassan fires off a few hooks, but Kusch takes him down, takes his back and gets one leg hook inside. However, Hassan awkwardly and frantically rolls around, making use of an opening to get back to his feet as the round ends.

Both fighters have a strong sense of urgency coming into the 3rd round of an almost evenly contested fight. The story goes pretty much the same as Kush shoots low and Hassan avoids being taken down. Both fighters trade some hooks in the center of the cage and it looks like Hassan is searching for that one punch knock out. Kusch shoots aggressively for a single leg takedown, but eats a couple of heavy shots from Hassan along the way. Near the end of the round, Hassan shows off his high-level experience, catching Kusch as he ducks in for a takedown with an uppercut, seemingly rocking him. Kusch quickly returns the favor, dropping Hassan with a well-placed knee strike in the clinch. Both fighters make a fast recovery as the clocks ticks down and leave it all inside the cage in the final 10 second count.

The fight was razor close, but eventually, it’s scored as a split decision victory in favor of Hayder Hassan.