Rising middleweight star Shara Magomedov kicked off the UFC 308 main card on Saturday, taking on Armen Petrosyan.
Petrosyan was looking to bounce back from a loss to Rodolfo Vieira, was was 3-2 in the UFC overall. Shara “Bullet” was a perfect 14-0, having won his first three outings inside the octagon.
The first round began with Petrosyan taking the center of the octagon and landing a couple of kicks to the lead leg of his opponent. When Shara returned with a kick of his own, Armen caught it and countered with a punch upstairs. In the short boxing exchange that followed, Armen cracked Shara several times. As both fighters reset, Shara continued to bounce on the outside looking to land his lead hand. Armen continued to pepper the legs of his opponent and utilized the Thai clinch to land knees on a couple occasions.
Midway through the round and Petrosyan got clipped by a counter from Magomedov that backed him off slightly. Seconds later, Magomedov evaded a leg kick and returned with one of his own. Shara would have continued success with timing the leg attacks as the round went on. Magomedov landed a lightning-quick side kick that floored his opponent with less than a minute left in the round. Magomedov was also able to check a few leg kicks coming his way as Armen was just spamming them out there. Shara landed a spinning back fist in the closing seconds of the round that triggered a nice pop from the crowd.
The second round began with Petrosyan going right back to leg kicks. Shara continued to move along the cage, feinting leg attacks and looking to land a counter lead hook. About a minute into the round and Armen landed a kick to the cup of Shara that triggered a momentary pause in the action. When the action resumed about 40 seconds later, Shara clipped his opponent with a counter hook that initiated a clinch. When the two fighters disengaged, Petrosyan landed another strike that glanced off the cup of his opponent. The action continued as Petrosyan continued to find a home for his kicks. Magomedov began to vary his attacks and started to stab at the body with his lead hand. With under two minutes to go left in the round, Shara started to throw more kicks, one of which landed on the cup of his opponent. Again, momentarily stopping the action.
When the action resumed once again, Petrosyan continued to stalk his opponent around the octagon. Shara looked to be trying to land to the body and then come over the top with his other hand but continued to whiff on the punch upstairs. With seconds left in the round, Magomedov began to mix up his strikes, still looking shifty, springy and explosive. Shara raised his knee feinting a teep, rolling right into a spinning back fist that partially landed. Magomedov used the momentum from the landed strike to ‘ping’ off his opponent and spun to the other side, flowing right into another spinning back fist that miraculously landed flush and literally sent his opponent bouncing off the canvas. No follow up strikes were necessary as Shara Magomedov elected to walk off, sealing the highlight reel finish with a smooth exclamation mark.
Official Result: Shara Magomedov def. Armen Petrosyan by KO (double spinning backfist), Round 2, 4:50
