Vitaly Minakov’s dominant run in Russia continued on Thursday, when he defeated DJ Linderman in the main event of Fight Nights Global 59.
The former Bellator heavyweight champion put his perfect 18-0 record on the line against 31-fight veteran Linderman and added another technical knockout victory to his resume, but had to fight for more than 10 minutes for the first time since leaving Bellator in 2014.
The fight started with a little confusion in the opening round, when the referee rushed Linderman to return instead of getting time to recover after a groin kick.