Abus Magomedov lost because he gassed himself out

[Wonderfight]

Tbh he looks better than strickland everywhere. But I cannot pity someone who cannot last one full round… If he by some miracle had a 5 round cardio, it would be a pretty easy decision. But he sure as hell doesn’t so there’s that.

And he gave up, shows that he is not serious all-round.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Bro had the gas tank of a smart car
Need to modify that aBus

 

[Local Plata]

His experience inside the UFC consisted of 19 seconds. There was a reason they picked him to fight Strickland in a main event, further evidenced by the absurd canvassing of the forums talking about Strickland like he just beat Flash in a footrace or something.

 

[Dana's Conscience]

It was what happens when you give someone a top 10 opponent in a main event for his second UFC fight because he crushed a can in his debut

 

[balkanbomber85]

There is no legit reason for a pro mma fighter with such a record to be gassed out 4min in the first round, where after the first minute he had a 2min break because he eye poked Sean! He had 1 minute of fight, 2 minutes of rest, 3 minutes of fight and he was already breathing heavy.

Moreover, as somebody mentioned, he gassed out because he threw punches and kicks while Strickland was backing up, not because it was a wild slugfest where they exchanged punches and kicks in a wild pace and got rocked and hurt etc... like for example as in the Kamzat-Burns fight.

 

[JustBleed69]

He set a high pace , but it wasn't any kind of pace that should have gassed him that bad. Plenty of elite middleweights keep a much higher pace than that, I think it was more to do with Sean putting him on the back foot.
Moving backwards is way more difficult than moving forwards conditions wise, mix that with adrenaline from the first UFC main event.

 

[Harlekin]

Fights out of ufd gym in germany.
German mma gyms usually are pretty bad at enhancing fighters stamina. They lack the good secret juice experience.

 

[fzoid4454]

Obviously in hindsight fighting Sean Strickland in a 5-round main event in just his second UFC appearance was too much too soon. Abus has an inflated record with wins over a bunch of cans and nobodies, but I'm not here to say he was never any good. On the contrary he has some legit skills.

The issue is he doesn't know how to pace himself. He threw a bunch of kicks in the first round which takes a lot of energy. Then he tried to wrestle, briefly taking Strickland down, but couldn't hold him there. I noticed a big change in Abus's body language as soon as they returned to their feet.

Then in the second round he became a punching bag as he lacked the energy to keep Strickland at range with those teep kicks.

Abus hasn't seen a third round in over 4 and a half years. Not since October 2018, when he fought two decisions in the same day, a 2-round majority draw against Gusan Umalatov and a 3-round unanimous decision win over Sadibou Sy, the Swedish Denzel Washington, in PFL's playoff tournament. While today's version of Sadibou Sy has developed good anti-wrestling and won the 2022 PFL welterweight tournament, in 2018 he was a lanky middleweight kickboxer susceptible to takedowns and lay and pray.

Both Sadibou and Abus were somewhat tired from having already fought two rounds earlier that day. In round 1 they kept it standing. In round 2 they kickboxed for two minutes, then Abus got a takedown and quickly slid into full mount, but despite attacking with ground and pound and an arm-triangle, couldn't quite find the finish over the next three minutes. In round 3 Abus got a takedown with over 4 minutes left and quickly took the back, attacked with a RNC, and then eventually slid into mount. Sadibou actually reversed him with 1:30 left, and had Abus turtled up for a moment. Then they scrambled and returned briefly to their feet before Abus landed one last explosive takedown to salt things away with both fighters absolutely gassed.



So again, the last time Abus saw a third round at all was over 4 and a half years ago, when he couldn't find a finish despite getting into dominant positions against an opponent who frankly offered little on the ground. He might have thought he was prepared to go 25 minutes against Strickland, but he wasn't.

I think Abus can have a nice future in the UFC middleweight division and beat some quality opponents, but he needs to address his pacing and cardio.

Well, thanks for that walk through the obvious.

 

[Conan the K-9]

Fights out of ufd gym in germany.
German mma gyms usually are pretty bad at enhancing fighters stamina. They lack the good secret juice experience.

Since -89 the German athletes don’t have the same national secret benefits like their russian colleagues still have.

 

[mahavishnunj]

It's almost as if.....not being good enough can cause you to lose.

 

[Edward Henry Greb]

That was weird how he just turned away to the left like he was walking out the door and then Strickland just clocked him and finished him.

It wasn't just lack of stamina, but also lack of durability.

Dude had convincing offense, but also had a fragile face, and wilted not just to fatigue but to lack of durability.

Probably also, lack of experience. He could have also been very nervous, given the exposure of the headline fight, and fought at an accelerated pace out of nervousness.

"Fighting somebody off" ≠ legit fighting intent.

Nervousness itself will cause some people to wilt.

 

[Goatenstein]

He lost because he didn't train hard enough. No excuses for 4 minutes of cardio.

 

[Elvis.]

I don’t know how he expected to go 25 minutes, did he expect to end it early

 

[Blastbeat]

Tbh he looks better than strickland everywhere.

except for cardio

i have never seen Strickland get tired in a fight with the exception of when he fought Imavov. Even then, he stepped in on like less than 2 weeks notice and had been preparing to go on a vacation trip. he still lasted 5 rounds. Strickland P4P one of the best gas tanks in the UFC.

It wasn't just lack of stamina, but also lack of durability.

Dude had convincing offense, but also had a fragile face, and wilted not just to fatigue but to lack of durability.

Probably also, lack of experience. He could have also been very nervous, given the exposure of the headline fight, and fought at an accelerated pace out of nervousness.

"Fighting somebody off" ≠ legit fighting intent.

Nervousness itself will cause some people to wilt.

i dunno about others but i actually started laughing towards the middle of the first round. here was Abus, throwing all sorts of kicks high and low, pouring everything into his offense. and all Strickland did was jab him and attempt to block stuff. its such a bare bones, pigheaded approach but it worked. Abus looked completely bewildered before Sean TKO'd him.

 

[Portland8242]

The betting odds were insane. Seems as if having an intimidating Russian looking name means you're always some giga-prospect who can beat everyone. Why did they give this no - namer this kind of opportunity anyway?

There's loads of prospects out there who can crush the cans this guy crushed to get to the UFC.

 

[Blastbeat]

The betting odds were insane. Seems as if having an intimidating Russian looking name means you're always some giga-prospect who can beat everyone. Why did they give this no - namer this kind of opportunity anyway?

There's loads of prospects out there who can crush the cans this guy crushed to get to the UFC.

according to Sean himself, Abus was the only person who said yes to the offer to fight him for the main event. there were other ranked MWs offered but none took it.

 

[Oscar Madison]

Abus got a lesson in UFC Top 10 fighting -- winning elsewhere or demonstrating skills is not the same as fighting success at higher levels.

Bisping called it -- Abus wanted out. Definitely gonna have to fix that.

 

[welcometohavoc]

Obviously in hindsight fighting Sean Strickland in a 5-round main event in just his second UFC appearance was too much too soon. Abus has an inflated record with wins over a bunch of cans and nobodies, but I'm not here to say he was never any good. On the contrary he has some legit skills.

The issue is he doesn't know how to pace himself. He threw a bunch of kicks in the first round which takes a lot of energy. Then he tried to wrestle, briefly taking Strickland down, but couldn't hold him there. I noticed a big change in Abus's body language as soon as they returned to their feet.

Then in the second round he became a punching bag as he lacked the energy to keep Strickland at range with those teep kicks.

Abus hasn't seen a third round in over 4 and a half years. Not since October 2018, when he fought two decisions in the same day, a 2-round majority draw against Gusan Umalatov and a 3-round unanimous decision win over Sadibou Sy, the Swedish Denzel Washington, in PFL's playoff tournament. While today's version of Sadibou Sy has developed good anti-wrestling and won the 2022 PFL welterweight tournament, in 2018 he was a lanky middleweight kickboxer susceptible to takedowns and lay and pray.

Both Sadibou and Abus were somewhat tired from having already fought two rounds earlier that day. In round 1 they kept it standing. In round 2 they kickboxed for two minutes, then Abus got a takedown and quickly slid into full mount, but despite attacking with ground and pound and an arm-triangle, couldn't quite find the finish over the next three minutes. In round 3 Abus got a takedown with over 4 minutes left and quickly took the back, attacked with a RNC, and then eventually slid into mount. Sadibou actually reversed him with 1:30 left, and had Abus turtled up for a moment. Then they scrambled and returned briefly to their feet before Abus landed one last explosive takedown to salt things away with both fighters absolutely gassed.



So again, the last time Abus saw a third round at all was over 4 and a half years ago, when he couldn't find a finish despite getting into dominant positions against an opponent who frankly offered little on the ground. He might have thought he was prepared to go 25 minutes against Strickland, but he wasn't.

I think Abus can have a nice future in the UFC middleweight division and beat some quality opponents, but he needs to address his pacing and cardio.

Don't care how much natural talent you have or how good your technique is from years of drilling it, if your cardio sucks, none of it matters.

 

[Wonderfight]

except for cardio

i have never seen Strickland get tired in a fight with the exception of when he fought Imavov. Even then, he stepped in on like less than 2 weeks notice and had been preparing to go on a vacation trip. he still lasted 5 rounds. Strickland P4P one of the best gas tanks in the UFC.



i dunno about others but i actually started laughing towards the middle of the first round. here was Abus, throwing all sorts of kicks high and low, pouring everything into his offense. and all Strickland did was jab him and attempt to block stuff. its such a bare bones, pigheaded approach but it worked. Abus looked completely bewildered before Sean TKO'd him.

Strickland’s output is not that great and he rarely puts anything behind his punches, makes sense that he can last long in there. He looks like he spars 99% of the time. This is not a dig, just that I cannot gauge his cardio appropriately. But then again, if guys will allow him to do that yeah, he can probably go for 20 rounds.

 

[Billthebutcher]

He was legit scared of Sean in that last round, it showed on his face and in his fighting demeanor.