If at first you don’t succeed, try again.
It was this exact way of thinking that led rising middleweight Sharatbutdin Magomedov to deliver a unique, highlight-reel knockout on Saturday at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
Magomedov (15-0), the bushy red-haired and bearded striker known affectionately as “Shara Bullet,” saw his initial spinning backfist attempt blocked by Armen Petrosyan in their 185-pound bout, which kicked off the pay-per-view card inside Etihad Arena. But Magomedov instantly pivoted to release the same strike off of his opposite shoulder, connecting on the chin of Magomedov with the back of his forearm to drop and finish him in stunning fashion.
Referee Kerry Hatley instantly waved off the fight at 4:52 of Round 2 after Petrosyan (9-4) fell to the canvas. The victory was Magomedov’s fourth straight since making his UFC debut last October and it came in an evenly contested bout that saw the cardio and chin of the native of Dagestan, Russia, tested throughout.
“When I started [training] muay Thai, this is the first thing I was shown by my older brother,” Magomedov said of the spinning backfist. “I trained and I trained but I couldn’t land it. Now, I landed it. This is my shot. This is my patented shot.”
Magomedov, who landed just the 11th spinning backfist knockout in UFC history, rebounded nicely from a right that rocked him in the opening round. “Shara Bullet” went on to trade leg kicks and big punches evenly for the remainder of the round before a sidekick to the body dropped Petrosyan.
With seconds to go in Round 1, Magomedov foreshadowed the eventual finishing blow by landing a spinning backfist before the horn that helped him sweep all three of the judges’ scorecards.
Petrosyan, a 33-year-old native of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, landed two kicks to the groin early in Round 2, one of which brought a lengthy break to the action. But Magomedov began to load up on counter right hands leading up to the finish as his speed, power and timing became too much for Petrosyan to handle.
Magomedov, who entered the fight unranked at middleweight, used his post-fight interview to call out a former champion.
“I’m happy, very happy,” Magomedov said. “Listen to me, guys. I’m the best striker in this division. I’ll smash [Israel] Adesanya.”
