Paris, France — After well over a year since his last fight, and months upon months of waiting, Abus Magomedov finally made his octagon debut at UFC Paris on Saturday.
He did so in style, winning a Performance of the Night bonus for his front kick knockout of Dustin Stoltzfus in the pair’s middleweight bout.
“I’m very happy for my debut, that I finally get the chance to fight here. I can’t say, I don’t have words to describe what I feel,” Magomedov (25-4-1) told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight. “I’m just happy.”
With time spent in KSW and the PFL, where he went to the million dollar final in 2018, Magomedov is an experienced fighter with a high ceiling in the UFC. No doubt due to this, the idea of fighting champ Israel Adesanya was floated on Saturday.
“I will wrestle him. I will smash him in wrestling, yeah,” Magomedov replied when asked how he would handle the champ. “If he wants to stand up, I can also fight in the stand-up. It’s not [something] I’m afraid of, a stand-up fight. But you have to be smart and know how to smash this guy.”
Ahead of his long-awaited debut, Magomedov did admit that despite his big-fight experience, there were nerves to contend with.
“Of course. This is why I work all my life, for UFC. Everybody knows UFC is the biggest organization of the world. For me, personally, it’s like Olympics. There is nothing more. I know everybody around the world look at UFC. It was a little bit [of] pressure, of course. But I’m a long time in this business, and I know how to manage it.”
As for his return, Abus Magomedov is hoping to fight on the UFC 280 card in Abu Dhabi, which is roughly six weeks from now.
“I hope the UFC will call me and say ‘hey Abus, let’s go, Abu Dhabi,'” he stated. “I’m ready.”
Watch the full UFC Paris post-fight media appearance by Abus Magomedov above.
