Magomed Tuchalov made his promotional debut at UFC Abu Dhabi, taking on Brendon Ribeiro in a preliminary card light heavyweight fight.
Tuchalov was undefeated as a pro, but had just six fights in comparison to Brazilian Ribeiro’s 27. The experience gap did not turn out to be an issue however.
The first action of the fight saw Tuchalov land a heavy outside leg kick. Ribeiro returned one of his own. Both guys started a little cautiously, fully committing to little outside of leg kicks. Ribeiro was the one pressing forward and throwing slightly more. Tuchalov was using a lot of feints that kept Ribeiro from throwing much, but he wasn’t throwing much himself. Whenever they did collide, Ribeiro was the one initiating, even though neither man was landing much. Ribeiro was winning the battle for octagon control, owning the center of the cage and backing Tuchalov up.
The last 20 seconds saw the only real action of the round. Tuchalov appeared to stun Ribeiro with something, but Ribeiro clipped him on the way in. Tuchalov ended the round with damage under his left eye, which was likely enough to give Ribeiro the round.
Round two started with both guys showing a little more urgency. Tuchalov attempted a takedown, but Ribeiro shrugged it off. Ribeiro was getting the better of the striking exchanges, landing that clubbing right hand. Just when it looked like Tuchalov was going to continue fighting from behind, he hurt Ribeiro with a big right hand. Instead of capitalizing on a wobbled Ribeiro, Tuchalov went to the wrestling. To make things worse, he couldn’t even get Ribeiro to the ground, then accidentally eye-poked him, giving him even more time to recover. Once the fight resumed, Tuchalov landed another big right hand. He ended the round in a big way by getting a takedown, but he might have finished the fight if he had fought a little smarter.
Going into round three, it was likely one round apiece. The beginning of the round saw Ribeiro easily pushing Tuchalov back against the cage. Tuchalov did a good job of throwing and getting out of there, but he kept ending up right back on the fence after disengaging. As Ribeiro blitzed in, Tuchalov timed a takedown but backed away and let Ribeiro get back up. Shockingly, Ribeiro then went for a takedown himself but got hip-tossed for his trouble. Ribeiro was never in much danger, but he did let Tuchalov hang on his back before getting back to his feet.
Ribeiro went for a kimura to try and sweep, but Tuchalov defended it, remained on top, and kept the back. The Brazilian got back to his feet but was immediately mat returned and never escaped again before the final horn. In the end, the judges had it for Magomed Tuchalov, with identical 29-28 scores from all three.
Official Result: Magomed Tuchalov def. Brendson Ribeiro by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
