About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Abus Magomedov is riding high off his UFC 333 win, and who can blame him?
It was a near-perfect recipe . The first-round submission of Cameron Rowston was quick, decisive, and flashy. His flex celebration gave fans a moment to make viral, as did Magomedov's callout of contender Gregory Rodrigues. Perhaps the only thing missing was a Performance of the Night bonus.
"You know what happened last time after my last fight in Baku?" Magomedov told MMA Junkie on Thursday. "It was also a good performance. I was talking into the microphone after the fight. My coach Mike Brown called me and said, 'Why do you ask for the bonus? When fighters ask about the bonus, they never get it.' Then Ali Abdelaziz called me and said, 'Brother, why do you say this?' Then I said, 'OK, this is my first and last time that I ask for some money.' Then, I didn't say anything and still didn't get it."
"... It's better than nothing. But after you know you can get $100,000, $25,000 sounds not so enough. But always Alhamdulillah. Even though I didn't get bonus, I got good money there."
Magomedov (30-7-1 MMA, 6-3 UFC) didn't tap Rowston (15-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC). He choked "The Battle Giraffe" completely unconscious. As blood began to return to Rowston's brain after the stoppage, Magomedov flexed – a similar celebration to that of the one Nate Diaz hit Kurt Pellegrino with many moons ago.
Although Diaz's mid-guillotine choke submission has been ingrained in UFC highlight packages ever since, Magomedov said that wasn't what was on his mind when he executed it.
"After the fight, I understand, too," Magomedov said. "But before I did the move, I didn't think about him, and I didn't know he did it. Of course, maybe I saw the picture, but it was not in my mind. I didn't think about this. But it happened."
"Sometimes at the gym, when we train, I submit the guys with one arm. I was always talking to the guys, 'Maybe one day if I get the choke deep, when I feel it's done and I feel the second hand is free, I can do some moves.' I was talking back in the day about this, but it was not the goal. It just happened – freestyle."
The victory made it two in a row for Magomedov – and five of six. He's rolling and continuing to move up every meaningful MMA ranking set out there. That's why Magomedov went big on the microphone post-fight, calling out top contender Gregory Rodrigues.
"He's the guy now who makes sense for me," Magomedov said. "I have a good winning streak now. It's also good for him. Now in our division, every week the champ changes or something. Always something changes. The most hardest weight for now is middleweight, in my opinion. All the guys in the top 15 are tough, strong. I don't really care who I get if my opponent makes sense for me, if it helps me to go in there for the title. Of course, I never escape some fight. The UFC knows it. Everyone knows it. Even I have small injuries, I'm fighting. I think it's not a problem for the UFC to fix someone for me. It doesn't matter who it is."
Magomedov, 37, is looking for a big opportunity. He has no problem with Rodrigues at all. It's quite the contrary. Years ago, Magomedov cross-trained with Rodrigues. He's been rooting for him ever since. But if he gets his way, that pattern will change.
"I know Rodrigues already back in the days, I was fighting in PFL," Magomedov said. "After PFL, they came to our gym, him and a couple more guys who trained together. They stayed for a couple weeks together. I'm happy. I've followed his career to this day. I'm happy always for him. But this is a sport. I think this fight makes more sense. I can beat him. I can finish him. I know it."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Abus Magomedov explains UFC 333 celebration, Gregory Rodrigues callout
Source: Sports
0 Comments