Prior to that, Murtazaliev’s last action was in the UFC, a dominant 2018 win over CB Dolloway. A USADA suspension followed, leading to a two year ban. Injuries compounded that.

“It’s been an almost three year layover, and injuries and everything,” Murtazaliev observed after the fight. Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press, he noted that “I forgot that feeling inside the cage. But now after fifteen minutes, going the distance, I feel more comfortable. I will be ready for anyone in my division, top five, top three. I have my coach, Greg Jackson, and I will be ready for anyone in the division, even the champion.”

During the bout with Aguiar, Murtazaliev was warned for a particularly egregious fence grab. Asked about the foul, he replied that “I didn’t mean to grab the cage at all. It was by accident, I just moved my hand and grabbed it by accident.” But, he continued, with all the time away, he did forget the rules, at least a little bit. “After the referee talked to me, I remembered everything,” he added. “All the rules.”

Having settled into his new fighting home, Murtazaliev would love to fight again soon. “I’m ready to fight April 9. Next week,” he joked. But with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan fast approaching, a longer layoff is more likely.

Watch the full Bellator 255 post-fight press scrum with Khalid Murtazaliev above.

The post Bellator 255: Khalid Murtazaliev “Forgot that Feeling Inside the Cage” During Time Away appeared first on Cageside Press.

Sources have subsequently confirmed to Cageside Press that Magomedov (17-1) will now take on CeeJay Hamilton. The fight will take place at bantamweight. Magomedov has won his last four fights, with his lone career loss comg to former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan.

Hamilton (15-7), a.k.a. “The Autobot,” is a Contender Series and LFA veteran who will be making his promotional debut in the fight.

Also being added to Bellator’s big return on April 2, the first card to air under Bellator’s partnership with Showtime, is Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Herman Terrado. The bout was first reported by Vestnik MMA,  and has been confirmed by Bellator officials to Cageside Press.

Terrado (15-5-1) is a Bellator and Strikeforce veteran who was last seen competing for the PFL in 2018, where he lost to Jake Shields by unanimous decision. Berkhamov (17-1) has not lost since 2013, and sits on a 12-fight win streak.

Completing the Russian takeover at the Mohegan Sun on April 2, Bellator officials confirmed to Cageside Press that Khalid Murtazaliev (14-2) will make his much anticipated Bellator debut after a 1-0 run in the UFC. He steps in the cage against fellow debutant and a winner of nine straight, Brazil’s Fabio Aguiar (17-1). The bout is set to take place on the Bellator 255 prelims at middleweight. Murtazaliev exited the UFC after his win over CB Dolloway, and a USADA suspension that has since been served. He last competed in 2018.

Bellator 255 takes place April 2, 2021 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. The card is headlined by a featherweight title fight between Patricio Pitbull and Emmanuel Sanchez, part of the promotion’s featherweight grand prix.

The post Bellator 255 Adds Three Prelim Bouts, Including New Opponent for Magomedov appeared first on Cageside Press.

You won’t be seeing UFC middleweight Khalid Murtazaliev any time soon. On Friday, USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) announced that the fighter had accepted a two year ban from competition. That follows a positive out-of-competition drug test for drostanolone and its metabolite 2α-methyl-5α-androstan-3α-ol-17-one. In fact, the substances appeared in tests administered in both October and December of last year.

Drostanolone is an anabolic agent, and prohibited at all times under the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy, which is enforced by USADA. According to Friday’s press release from the anti-doping outfit, “Murtazaliev’s two samples under the rules are treated as a single, first violation because the amount of drostanolone and its metabolite detected in both samples is consistent with administration via injection prior to the first sample collected on October 3, 2018. Murtazaliev’s two-year period of ineligibility began on October 3, 2018, the date his sample was collected.”

In other words, Murtazaliev (14-2) will not be eligible to compete until October 3, 2020. The fighter from the Dagestan region of Russia won his debut in the promotion in September, at UFC Moscow. There, he defeated veteran C.B. Dollaway. Murtazaliev’s win will stand, as his failed tests came after the bout and were out of competition. That’s not likely to soften the blow for Dollaway, however. Prior to his UFC debut, Murtazaliev had won two bouts under the FNG banner.

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