History was made on Friday night with ACB taking their show across the pond for the first time to Irvine, California for ACB 51.

The event was headlined by the veterans Thiago Silva and Jared Torgeson who battled it out for the inaugural ACB light heavyweight title.

The contest began tentatively with both men choosing to keep their distance and kickbox at range. In round two Silva began to take over, using his counter striking well to light up the inside leg of Torgeson and busting up his nose with stiff jabs.

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Silva persisted wit this tactic in round three and Torgeson continued to eat leg kick after leg kick and jab after jab. Despite the one-sided pattern of offense, the contest made it to the championship rounds, but still Silva just continue to punish the Torgeson as he plodded forward aimlessly looking to land his right hand.

In round five and the fight in the bag, Silva stayed out of danger and coasted to what was really  lackluster bout for the main event. Unsurprisingly, Silva got the nod from all three judges and had the new ACB light heavyweight strapped around his waist.

Palomino wins in Irvine

In the co-main event, Luis Palomino picked up a hard-fought win over Musa Khamanaev in what was an ill-tempered affair even after the fight was over. The fight began a fierce pace with both fighters exchanging heavy strikes on the feet in round one.

This trend continued into round two, but this time the former WSOF man managed to get the finish when he pushed Khamanaev against the cage and landed a vicious knee to the body before sending him to the mat with a second. From there, Palomino poured on the ground and pound to force the stoppage with Herb Dean rendering Khamanaev unable to intelligently defend himself.

After the fight Khamanaev had strong words with both Dean and Palomino but the fight was over and most watching on would’ve deemed it a good stoppage.

Kyle wins, Healy upset

On the undercard, Mike Kyle picked up a devastating knockout win over Dan Charles, while Leandro Silva upset Pat Healy in controversial circumstances when he appeared to eye poke his opponent before dropping him to the mat with a stiff kick to midsection and then a stiff strike that landed on Healy’s chin.

 
ACB 51 Full Fight Card

Thiago Silva def. Jared Torgeson via unanimous decision for the ACB light heavyweight belt
 Luis Palomino def. Musa Khamanaev via KO (punches), Round 2
Christos Giagos def. Alexandre Pimentel via Unanimous Decision
Shamil Gamzatov def. Rodney Wallace by Split Decision
Leandro Silva def. Pat Healy via KO (strike), Round 1
Mike Kyle def. Tim Hague via Knockout (punches), Round 1
Guillermo Martinez def. AymeIvan Castillo via Unanimous Decision
Kyle Reyes def. Mario Israel via Majority Decision
Arthur Estrázulas def. Dave Courchaine via Knockout (punches), Round 1
Terrion Ware def. Nick Mamalis via Unanimous Decision
Danny Martinez def. Cory Alexander via Unanimous Decision