Murtazali
Magomedov had help from a
UFC veteran for his spectacular debut on Saturday.
Magomedov (11-0) made his promotional debut against Melsik
Baghdasaryan (8-4) at UFC Fight Night 279 on Saturday at the
Apex in Las Vegas. While Baghdasaryan landed some powerful strikes
early, Magomedov took him down quickly and started looking for a
rear-naked choke. As Baghdasaryan tried to turn into Magomedov, the
Kyrgyz prospect locked in a modified twister to secure a submission
win at 1:17 of the opening round. Magomedov scored the fourth
twister submission in UFC history in his debut in the
promotion.
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Magomedov subsequently said that he had been specifically training
the twister in the gym for a long time. The undefeated
featherweight prospect further revealed that he learned the move
from former UFC flyweight, Askar
Askarov.
“I work this technique long time,” Magomedov said. “My brother,
Askar
Askarov teach me this technique.”
Making Featherweight Great
While Magomedov claims he’s not one to talk a lot, “The Highlight”
believes the UFC featherweight division needs revival.
“I want activity… I honestly don’t talk too much,” Magomedov said.
“But the featherweight division is almost dying. Let’s bring it
back to life and make it great again.”
Askarov (15-1) look immensely promising in his short-lived UFC
career. “Bullet” fought Brandon
Moreno to a draw and defeated Tim Elliott,
Alexandre
Pantoja and Joseph
Benavidez before suffering his lone professional loss against
Kai
Kara-France in 2022. While, Askarov was scheduled to fight
Brandon
Royval later that year, he pulled out due to weight management
issues. Askarov subsequently asked for and was granted his release
from the UFC. Askarov has since competed only once more in 2023,
picking up a win on the regional circuit.