Sean Strickland‘s win against Abus Magomedov at UFC Vegas 76 may put him in line for a title shot against Israel Adesanya, while Grant Dawson‘s dominant performance against Damir Ismagulov has sent a clear message to the rest of the lightweight division.
Sean Strickland may now be in the prime position to vie for a title shot against Israel Adesanya in September, thanks to his exceptional performance at the UFC APEX last Saturday. The opening round was quite competitive with Strickland taking a brutal eye poke against his UFC Vegas 76 main event opponent, Abus Magomedov. However, Strickland shifted to a higher gear, overpowering Magomedov with relentless punches until the referee Mark Smith deemed it necessary to stop the fight.
In the co-main event, Grant Dawson also highlighted his stature in the lightweight division with a decisive victory over Damir Ismagulov. It was a one-sided match with Dawson securing a unanimous decision win that will surely catch the attention of his division rivals. Other UFC fighters responded to these two matches and had praises for the impressive wins from other fighters, including Michael Morales, Benoit Saint-Denis, among others.
Justin Tafa said on Twitter, “Damn feel for Strickland”. TrevinAJones also commented that Strickland was a tough man while Terrance McKinney asserted that Strickland’s cardio stood out for him as he could fight all day and night. The performances of Grant Dawson and Michael Morales were also highly commended by UFC fighters Alan Jouban, Aljamain Sterling, Sodiq Yusuff, and many others. There were even interesting Twitter reactions like Randy Brown who simply stated “Tonight has been extra violent.”
Finally, the performance of Benoit Saint-Denis was specifically noted by Terrance McKinney who congratulated him on his crazy first round. Joaquin New Mansa Buckley pondered aloud on Twitter about who the tall middleweight fighter was while Belal Muhammad took note of the violent finishes that had characterized the night’s events. All these comments are a testament to the high-level performance displayed by these fighters during the bouts.