With Abus Magomedov, Germany has an MMA fighter who can make it into the elite of his weight class. At his debut in Paris, the Düsseldorfer provided the knockout of the evening.
The debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) could not have gone better for Abus Magomedov from Düsseldorf. The 32-year-old won his middleweight fight against the American Dustin Stoltzfus, who lives in the Palatinate, after just 19 seconds by technical knockout. Magomedov started his victory with a sensational front kick to the chin. He then pushed Stoltzfus to the edge of the cage and followed suit. A hook and proud foot went down. The referee then stopped the fight.
A made-to-measure debut for the experienced fighter with Russian roots, even UFC boss Dana White had highlighted the fight between Magomedov and Stoltzfus in his preview of the event and showered the Düsseldorfer with advance praise. The high expectations of Magomedov are no coincidence. He had already caused a stir in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) when he fought five fights within five months in 2018 and only lost to Louis Taylor in the final. However, he has not been able to fight since 2019 due to health reasons.
"It's the Champions League here. The UFC really takes care of the fighters, so all we have to do is get in the cage. And you can see what comes of it today," said Magomedov after his win. He still felt a bit of pressure, he admitted. After all, the whole world is watching the fights in the UFC. After his sensational debut, which also earned him the $50,000 performance bonus, Magomedov is looking to get back in the cage right away in October when the UFC visits Abu Dhabi. He has no injuries, said the 32-year-old at the press conference.
Asked about a possible duel with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Magomedov reacts calmly. How he would defeat Adesanya, a reporter asked him. "I would wrestle with him. I would crush him. I can also fight him standing up, I'm not afraid of that. But you have to be smart to defeat him."
The constellation between Stoltzfus from Palatinate and Magomedov could be described as unfortunate, considering that both fights are driving MMA sport in Germany. Accordingly, Magomedov said a few words to the German-American after the fight, which he explained again at both press conferences. "I apologized for what happened and told him to take it as a sport. It wasn't personal. If he needs my help in the future, he's welcome to come to our gym and we support each other."
(This article was first published on Saturday 03 September 2022.)
