Mansur Abdul-Malik lived up to his billing earlier tonight (Sat., Nov. 9, 2024) at UFC Vegas 100 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, when the middleweight prospect viciously stopped veteran fighter Dusko Todorovic with a blistering first-round TKO (knee and punches).
Fight fans are familiar with Abdul-Malik from his standout performance on Dana White’s Contender Series this past August and were excited to witness his official Octagon debut. The promising prospect was a large betting favorite to handily outperform Todorovic, but that comes with a heap of pressure. Luckily for Abdul-Malik, the moment did not get the best of him.
It didn’t take the 27-year-old long at all to find his range and level Todorovic with nasty strikes on the feet. Todorovic crumbled and nearly allowed Abdul-Malik to stop the fight in the early going. Somehow Todorovic was able to weather the storm and returned to his feet. Unfortunately for him, Abdul-Malik was there to land a crushing knee that sent Todorovic back to the mat.
From there, Abdul-Malik would unload ferocious punches that eventually forced referee Mike Beltran to step in for the stoppage. It was an incredible debut for a blue chip prospect in an already-expanding UFC middleweight division.
Check out the final moments in the above video player.
For complete UFC Vegas 100 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.