[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] had to overcome an early scare, but once he recovered and settled in, he was able to end the night early.
In the main event of UFC on ESPN 47 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) faced Abus Magomedov (25-4-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who entered his second bout with the promotion. Although he started well, Magomedov fell to Strickland by TKO at 4:20 in Round 2.
Magomedov was active with leg kicks in the opening exchanges. He added a punching combination that landed well, but when Strickland looked to respond with a left hand, Magomedov’s extended fingers caused a nasty eye poke. The fight was paused for nearly three minutes of recovery time for Strickland, but the fight would continue, and Magomedov picked up right where he left off.
The output of Magomedov kept Strickland on the defensive for a large part of the opening round, as he had to deal with multiple punches and kicks from various angles.
However, early in the second, Strickland quickly turned the momentum in his favor. Big punches caused Magomedov to retreat as Strickland walked him down and unleashed sharp combinations. Magomedov’s body language completely changed from a confident striker to a labored-moving defensive shell against the cage.
Smelling the blood in the water, Strickland continued to stalk and blast off punches when the timing was right. A sharp left hand dropped Magomedov, and the swarm for the finish was on. Referee Mark Smith gave Magomedov more than enough time to fight back, but Strickland was raining down too many heavy right hands for his posture to change.
CLOSING THE SHOW IN ROUND TWO!!! 🤯@SStricklandMMA proving his experience tonight! #UFCVegas76 pic.twitter.com/5H0o6LSii1
— UFC (@ufc) July 2, 2023
With the win, Strickland makes it two straight in 2023. He began his year with a unanimous decision win over Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC’s first event on the calendar in January.
During his post-fight interview, he made a call for a shot at the middleweight title, while praising the fans in attendance at the UFC Apex who he said helped push him through the first-round eye poke.
On the other side, Magomedov’s three-fight winning streak comes to an end in his second UFC appearance. He won his promotional debut with a 19-second stoppage of Dustin Stoltzfus last September, but ran into trouble against Strickland in his first main event.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 47 results include:
- Sean Strickland def. Abus Magomedov via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:20
- Grant Dawson def. Damir Ismagulov via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Michael Morales def. Max Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ariane Lipski def. Melissa Gatto via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- Benoit Saint-Denis def. Ismael Bonfim via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:48
- Nursulton Ruziboev def. Brunno Ferreira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:17
- Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Kevin Lee via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:55
- Joanderson Brito def. Westin Wilson via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:54
- Karol Rosa def. Yana Santos via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Elves Brener def. Guram Kutateladze via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:17
- Luana Carolina def. Ivana Petrovic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Alexandr Romanov def. Blagoy Ivanov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 47.