At age 41, welterweight Muslim Salikhov looked to continue to defy Father Time at UFC Abu Dhabi, where he took on Carlos Leal.
Salikhov had won his last two fights, while PFL veteran Leal was coming off a single win over Alex Morono.
Leal started round one aggressive pressing “The King of Kung Fu” towards the fence stalking Salikhov. As Leal marched forward he missed on a straight left hand leaving him open for a picture perfect counter right hand from Salikhov. Connecting right on the button, Leal crashed to the canvas face first as the referee stopped the action.
Forty two seconds into the first round was all it took for the aging veteran Salikhov to pick up a picture perfect knockout win. This was an incredible performance from the striking specialist, who called out Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in his post fight interview. This would be interesting stylistically as both are elite competitors on the feet.
This win marked his third in a row, in what could lead to a quick turnaround after Muslim only needed three strikes to finish this contest. Look for Salikhov to move up the UFC welterweight division rankings next week after impressive wins over Santiago Ponzinibbio and now the dangerous Carlos Leal over these three victories.
Official Result: Muslim Salikhov def. Carlos Leal by KO, Round 1, 0:42
