Middleweight action kicked off Saturday’s UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, with highly touted newcomer Sharabutdin Magomedov making his promotional debut against Bruno Silva.
With Silva having shared the cage with the likes of Israel Adesanya, this was no easy out for Magomedov, though he still entered a heavy favorite.
The fight started with a heavy inside leg kick from Magomedov and a return from Silva. Magomedov was heavy early on with the kicks to the lead leg but Silva did land a nice combo getting the attention of Magomedov. Magomedov then caught Silva with a head kick that stunned Silva! A flying knee barely missed and Silva was able to survive. Silva’s lead leg was already beaten up with all the kicks adding up. Silva was doing a fine job of blitzing in with his hands. He was landing but nothing significant as the movement of Magomedov made him elusive. Another heavy leg kick forced Silva to switch stances. They both had great success at the end of the round with the kicks from Magomedov but some heavy hands landed from Silva.
In round two right away Magomedov was back attacking the leg kick. He was also going to the body well and just mixing up his kicks. More kicks to the body were also adding up from Magomedov. Magomedov landed a beautiful left head kick to a right body kick. As Silva was coming in he was going into a series of knees. Silva was really getting beat up on the outside getting picked apart. Silva did a great job of timing a kick and got the takedown. It was Magomedov landing from the bottom with elbows slicing up Silva. Silva was landing on top but Magomedov was far more busy even off his back and the round ends there.
In the final round a nasty leg kick from Magomedov landed. Another leg kick was landed but Silva again timed it and got a takedown. Silva did spend a lot of time on top but Magomedov eventually got back up. Magomedov then hurt Silva with an elbow in the clinch. The guard of Magomedov was let down and Silva got another takedown. Although Magomedov was on his back the majority of the round he was still very active. At the end of the fight, Magomedov got back up and in the closing seconds landed some knees.
No surprises when the results were read: Sharabutdin Magomedov won all three rounds on all three scorecards.
Official Results: Sharabutdin Magomedov def. Bruno Silva by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
