Sean Strickland had to weather an early storm from Abus Magomedov in the main event of UFC On ESPN 48 tonight, but then turned the screw in the second round and dropped his tiring opponent to set up a TKO finish.
Round One:
The middleweight main event is underway in Las Vegas!
Push kick for Magomedov to start. More kicks from him. Now a quick flurry from him as Strickland was looking to punch.
Strickland suffers an eyepoke from Magomedov and that forces a pause in the action as he tries to recover. He seems to be having some difficulty with his vision. A couple of minutes in and he says his vision is still blurry, but half a minute later he says he’s ok to continue.
Back to it we go. Magomedov threatens with a left hook. Now a low kick followed by a high kick that’s blocked. Solid leg kick again.
Jab for Strickland. Kick from Magomedov. Hooks from Magomedov as he continues his aggressive start to this fight.
Low kick for Magomedov. Now a nice left hook from him. Body punch from Magomedov and then a kick. Another body punch then a couple upstairs.
Overhand right for Magomedov. Jab from Stsrickland. Chopping low kick for Magomedov. Another lands very heavily. And again.
Straight left and a body punch for Magomedov, while Strickland sticks a nice jab. Magomedov just missing with hooks and then lands a push kick.
Another push kick from Magomedov and a body kick followed by one upstairs that looked threatening.
Magomedov manages to get a takedown, but does well to burst back to his feet. A couple of jabs land for Strickland.
Left hand for Magomedov. Jab for Strickland. Strickland wading forward and Magomedov meets him with a straight punch.
Round Two:
Magomedov with a low kick. Now a nice punch. He steps into a right hand. Now Strickland blasts Magomedov with a couple of punches that seem to trouble Magomedov and Strickland recognizes it as he presses forward looking to capitalize.
Magomedov defending though and the pace slows a bit as his own offense starts to fade. Strickland taking his time but then unleashes a heavy flurry of punches.
Magomedov breathing heavy as he tries to fire back under pressure from another flurry.
Jab for Strickland and looks for the straight behind it. Big right hand lands for Strickland. Now rapid-fire left and rights as Magomedov is backed up against the cage.
Magomedov does land a nice punch to the body, but Strickland wears it fine and goes back to pressuring him, unleashing another hard combination of punches.
Magomedov tries a head kick, but it’s a tired attempt and we’re not even out of the second round yet.
Strickland lands a punch and Magomedov sinks to the canvas. Strickland gets on top and blasts him with repeated right hands until the ref waves the fight off. Strickland gets the TKO finish at 4.20mins of the second round.
