Products You May Like
There are levels to mixed martial arts. Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov shared the spotlight at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday, but the two fighters were not on equal footing.
An eye poke nearly brought the fight to an end moments after it started. Magomedov inadvertently caught Strickland early into Round 1. The doctor checked on Strickland, who forged ahead after a few minutes of recovery.
“That was a good eye poke. I’m still seeing double.” Strickland told UFC commentator Michael Bisping post-fight. “There was a coward in me that almost said, ‘Why don’t we just stop this?’ But I heard you guys over there yelling in the back. I was like, ‘I gotta do this shit. We’re going to make this happen.'”
Magomedov looked at home in his first UFC main event. Well, at least for five minutes. Magomedov got off to a strong start by landing various punches and kicks to Strickland’s head, body and legs. Magomedov even scored a takedown late into the opening frame. Magomedov’s high output came back to bite him as he looked fatigued by the start of Round 2.
Strickland turned Magomedov into a human punching bag, unloading punches on his opponent and repeatedly rocking him. Strickland eventually dropped and swarmed Magomedov, forcing referee Mark Smith to intervene at 4:20 of the middle frame.
Saturday’s main event was a head-scratcher. Strickland is currently ranked No. 7 in the UFC’s official rankings. Magomedov, despite having similar mileage, only had one prior UFC fight and is completely absent from the Top 15. Strickland, having completed the high-risk, low-reward challenge presented by UFC matchmakers, called for the UFC middleweight title currently held by Israel Adesanya.
“I want the title,” Strickland said.