Landing his first victory via stoppage since a 2020 TKO win over recent winner, Brendan Allen, number seven ranked middleweight contender, Sean Strickland has turned in his second straight win, stopping German upstart, Abusupiyan Magomedov with a second round slew of strikes in a rallying knockout win in the main event of UFC Vegas 76.
Strickland, who most recently turned in a dominant unanimous decision win over Russian prospect, Nassourdine Imavov in a January headliner, managed to rally from some adversity in the opening round of his third consecutive headliner against Magomedov — forced to deal with a nasty eye poke inside just 25 seconds.
However, trouble for the Corona native didn’t end there, with Dusseldorf resident, Magomedov turning up the heat and finding range with strikes and body kicks aplently.
Early in the second frame, however, Sean Strickland began to see the tide sway in his favor, with Magomedov clearly showing effects from his pace-pushing performance in the first round.
Turning on the pressure himself, Strickland forced the stoppage against the Russian-born Magomedov — felling the latter and finishing the bout with the help of referee, Mark Smith after a barrage of ground strikes.
Following the victory, the outspoken Strickland called for a title fight against Israel Adesanya — poking fun at the City Kickboxing staple by referring to him as the “first and only Chinese champion.
Below, catch the highlights from Sean Strickland’s stoppage of Abusupiyan Magomedov
CLOSING THE SHOW IN ROUND TWO!!!
@SStricklandMMA proving his experience tonight! #UFCVegas76 pic.twitter.com/5H0o6LSii1
— UFC (@ufc) July 2, 2023
