Rising UFC middleweight Shara Magomedov has explained why he believes his double spinning backfist finish last time out was superior to the consensus Knockout of the Year in 2024.
Magomedov was in fine form inside the Octagon across the past 12 months, winning three straight fights to bring his UFC tally of victories to four and perfect professional record to 15-0.
The best of those results came in the Dagestani’s most recent outing, which saw him stop Armen Petrosyan with an innovative and memorable double spinning backfist at UFC 308 last October.
That finish perhaps could have been in contention for Knockout of the Year awards at the end of 2024 if it wasn’t for the work of one Max Holloway, whose offer to throw down with Justin Gaethje in the closing seconds of their BMF title fight at UFC 300 culminated in one of the sport’s all-time highlights.
Magomedov, though, would still give his violent KO the edge.
“Of course, I think mine is better because mine was really a work of art,” Magomedov told MMA Fighting via his translator. “The Max knockout, even though it was fun to watch, it was basically a brawl, and how many times have we seen a brawl in a UFC fight? There’s been tons of them. But the one that I’ve done has never been done or never has been performed before in the Octagon.”
While most media outlets and fans would likely disagree given the way they went with Knockout of the Year awards, Magomedov is bestowing himself with a grander honor.
“I guess they’re right, they really did have a Knockout of the Year,” Magomedov said. “But mine was a Knockout of the Century.”
Magomedov will now look to raise the bar even further with a 13th career knockout this weekend. To do so, he’s tasked with sending Michael “Venom” Page to the first losing skid of his career in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Given “MVP’s” penchant for KOs, Magomedov may need to be wary, lest he find himself on the receiving end of such a finish inside anb Arena.