Magomedov got his start on the regional scene in Germany before competing in a few other promotions prior to UFC. Surprisingly, Magomedov didn’t find himself with a chance at a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series.
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Instead, the 32-year-old who fights out of Dusseldorf, needed 29 professional fights to finally make the walk to the Octagon. Once he was signed to the UFC, he was on the unfortunate end of a couple fight cancelations that kept him on the sidelines for almost a full year.
Finally, he was able to make his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa.
And he did not waste anytime once he got started.
It took just 19 seconds for Magomedov to land a devastating front kick and punches to knock out his opponent, Dustin Stoltzfus. Just like that Magomedov put himself on the map as a middleweight contender that everyone needed to keep their eyes on.
It was the fourth-fastest finish for a UFC debut in middleweight history.
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He told UFC.com backstage that night that he couldn’t “wait for his second fight” and that “he would be waiting for UFC to call him.”
And although Magomedov tried to capitalize on momentum gained from his debut, the fight cancelation curse continued and forced his sophomore UFC appearance back from what he had hoped to be the autumn of 2022 to early winter of 2023 to mid-summer of 2023.
That’s when the UFC called contender Sean Strickland.
The all-action, fight anyone at any time-minded Strickland didn’t hesitate to face Magomedov. He signed the contract, and just like that, Magomedov found himself in a UFC main event with just one UFC fight under his belt.
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Magomedov is 25-4-1, with 20 victories by finish, and he brings the exciting style that fight fans would love to see match up with the other top contenders in the division.
Beating Strickland in such a showcase could be a massive opportunity for Magomedov to quickly establish himself as the new blood at the top of the middleweight division.
