Sean Strickland claimed a convincing second-round TKO win over Abusupiyan Magomedov in the middleweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 2 July 2023.
Strickland, who moves to 27-5 in his career, brushed off an early eye-poke from his opponent and held his own in the first round, before unloading a massive offence in the second to eventually force a referee’s stoppage just over four minutes in.
“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 s***. We're going to make this happen.”
Strickland went on to call for a fight against middleweight title holder Israel Adesanya, though he will presumably have to wait for after the champion’s defence against either Robert Whittaker or Dricus du Plessis.
The rest of the main card saw Grant Dawson dominate Damir Ismagulov for a unanimous win in the lightweight division; Michael Morales outpointed Max Griffin in the welterweight category; Ariane Lipski claimed a split decision win over Melissa Gatto in the women’s flyweight division; Benoit Saint-Denis submitted fellow lightweight Ismael Bonfim; and Nursulton Ruziboev claimed a first-round TKO over Brunno Ferreira in the middleweight opener.
Next week will bring UFC 290, headlined by matches for the featherweight championship (Alexander Volkanovski v Yair Rodriguez) and the flyweight championship (Brandon Moreno v Alexandre Pantoja).
UFC Fight Night: Strickland v Magomedov – Main card
- Main event: Middleweight: Sean Strickland def. Abusupiyan Magomedov via TKO (punches), R2, 4:20
- Lightweight: Grant Dawson def. Damir Ismagulov via unanimous decision (30-26 30-27 30-27), R3, 5:00
- Welterweight: Michael Morales def. Max Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Women’s flyweight: Ariane Lipski def. Melissa Gatto via split decision (28-29 30-27 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Lightweight: Benoit Saint-Denis def. Ismael Bonfim via submission (rear-naked choke), R1, 4:48
- Middleweight: Nursulton Ruziboev def. Brunno Ferreira via KO (punches), R1, 1:17