Las Vegas — Russian welterweight Magomed Umalatov picked up at the 2023 PFL 3 card in Las Vegas where he left off last year, when visa issues forced him out of the 2022 season.
Umalatov (13-0) unleashed fury on Dilano Taylor in Las Vegas on Friday, putting his opponent away in under two minutes.
That quick finish? “That was my plan, to be honest,” Umalatov told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight. “I trained with my coaches and I said that first minute, I will try the distance to see how the fight will go, and after the first minute, I will go for the finish.”
Despite now having six points towards the post-season — a factor Umalatov actually admitted he had forgotten all about — “I will go hard for the whole season,” he stated.
“I said before that this guy wasn’t supposed to be fighting Rory MacDonald last season instead of me, and I proved that it was wrong. It wasn’t his spot. I will just take one week off, and after I’ll go to training again.”
Seeing the MacDonald fight last year fall through made the win over Taylor, his replacement in the Rory fight, that much sweeter, Umalatov admitted.
“Yeah to be honest, it was a bitter feeling when the guy got the opportunity to fight instead of me, and I didn’t get the chance because of the visa, not because of injury or something else,” said Umalatov. “It was a bitter feeling, yeah, and this victory is satisfying.”
Watch the full 2023 PFL 3 post-fight press scrum with Magomed Umalatov above.
