Biggest Winners, Loser From UFC Vegas 76

UFC Vegas 76 went down last night (Sat., July 1, 2023) inside UFC Apex (yes, again) featuring a Middleweight fight between Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov. When it was all said and done, Strickland ended Magomedov’s night via technical knockout (TKO) in the second round (highlights). In the co-main event, Grant Dawson walked away with a unanimous decision win over Damir Ismagulov after 15 minutes of action.

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Biggest Winner: Sean Strickland

Things started off a bit dicey for Strickland in the first round because Magomedov came out aggressive, throwing an array of kicks and strikes to earn him the first round on the scorecards rather easily, though he did get a stern warning for an inadvertent eye poke. But in round two, “Tarzan” quickly turned things around after he picked up his own intensity and starting finding holes in Magomedov’s armor. He carefully dissected his foe, gassed him out, rocked him and then eventually put on the finishing touches for a highly-impressive TKO win that earned him an extra $50K in post-fight bonus money. With two straight wins in his back pocket, Strickland was confident enough to call for a title shot. Even if he doesn’t get it next, he moves closer because he will be in the Top 5 come next week.

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Runner (s) Up: Nursulton Ruziboev and Rinat Fakhretdinov

When a fighter makes his or her UFC debut, I’m sure the thing most worry about is the nerves getting to them on the biggest stage MMA has to offer. But Ruziboev wasn’t rattled the slightest in his first fight inside the Octagon, earning an impressive and violent first-round knockout win over Bruno Ferreira, which took all of 77 seconds (see it here). In the process, Ruziboev picked up consecutive win number nine after a quick night’s work, as well as an extra $50,000. As for Fakhretdinov, he picked up his twentieth straight victory — third inside the Octagon in the span of a year — by absolutely obliterating Kevin Lee in just 55 seconds. While his win didn’t nab him a post-fight bonus, he has put the Welterweight division on notice after such a lightning-quick victory in “Sin City.”

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Biggest Loser: Kevin Lee

Lee made his much-anticipated return to the Octagon last night after nearly two years away from the promotion to face the aforementioned Rinat Fakhretdinov, a matchup I felt was somewhat of a mismatch in Fakhretdinov’s favor. And it was just that as Fakhretdinov absolutely steamrolled “The Motown Phenom” in the very first round, knocking him to the canvas with a vicious right hand before choking him unconscious in the matter of 55 seconds (highlights). Lee is now 0-3 in his last three fights inside the Octagon, and 1-5 if we want to go back a bit further. It’s a drastic downfall for the once-promising contender who at one time was considered a legit threat to the Lightweight title. But he has looked anything but over the last few years, which makes you wonder if he has anything left to offer or if his best days are indeed behind him.

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For complete UFC Vegas 76: “Strickland vs. Magomedov” results and play-by-play, click HERE.