The action started off with a bang earlier this morning (Sat., April 20, 2019) at UFC on ESPN+ 7 live on ESPN+ from inside Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, when Magomed Mustafaev returned for his first Octagon appearance since 2016 and finished lightweight opponent Rafael Fiziev via first-round TKO (spinning back kick and punches).
The finishing sequence happened just over one minute into the fight as Mustafaev landed a nasty spinning back kick that penetrated Fiziev’s defense and planted the younger lightweight on the canvas. Mustafaev then landed some follow-up shots before the referee stepped in for the official stoppage at 1:26 of Round 1.
Check out the video highlights above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.
With this performance, Mustafaev gets back into the UFC win column after dropping his last fight to Kevin Lee via submission well over two years ago. The 30-year-old Russian has now won each of his three UFC victories by way of TKO and will look to continue his comeback campaign later this year presumably against a bigger name at 155 pounds.
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