Sean Strickland will face the challenge of newcomer Abusupiyan ‘Abus’ Magomedov when the pair meet 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 (26-5) bounced back from successive defeats to top-ranked middleweights Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier by out-pointing Nassourdine Imavov in a light heavyweight clash in January 2023.
Abusupiyan Magomedov (25-4-1) is fighting in just his second UFC match – the 32-year-old Russian-born’s series debut was a first-round TKO win over Dustin Stoltzfus in September last year
The 32-year-old ‘Tarzan’ has explained why he, as a top-10 ranked fighter, has agreed to fight the relatively unknown Magomedov.
“So I either wait six months for a ranked guy to say yes, which they probably won’t, or I fight,” explained Strickland. “I fight for money, this is my profession.”
He also took a shot at fast-rising middleweight Dricus du Plessis, who is set to face Robert Whittaker in a middleweight title eliminator fight at UFC 290.
“Dricus picked all easy fights and will get a title shot after beating old retired [Derek] Brunson, and I applaud him for it. [Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya] Izzy is going to make him look like a glorified can, but he played the game well.”
‘Abus’, meanwhile, believes this is his moment to establish himself as a UFC star: “It was hard, but I knew that my chance will come and because of this I was always working and now it's time. Of course, it's hard and it's not easy always to be prepared, but now it's time.”
The rest of the main card features Damir Ismagulov v Grant Dawson in the lightweight division; a welterweight battle between Max Griffin and Michael Morales; Ariane Lipski v Melissa Gatto in the women’s flyweight division; a lightweight clash pitting Ismael Bonfim against Benoit Saint-Denis; and a middleweight opener between Abdul Razak Alhassan and Brunno Ferreira.
UFC Fight Night: Strickland v Magomedov – Main card
- Main event: Middleweight: Sean Strickland v Abusupiyan Magomedov
- Lightweight: Damir Ismagulov v Grant Dawson
- Welterweight: Max Griffin v Michael Morales
- Women’s flyweight: Ariane Lipski v Melissa Gatto
- Lightweight: Ismael Bonfim v Benoit Saint-Denis
- Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan v Brunno Ferreira