Sean Strickland Gains UFC Main Event Slot on July 1 Against Abus Magomedov

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS JUST DROPPED! 🚨@DanaWhite just confirmed SIX big fights going down this summer and more 👀 pic.twitter.com/2trJujb3kB

— UFC (@ufc) April 21, 2023

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is banking on middleweights for much of its summer schedule.

The UFC Apex will play host to a number of fight cards over the next few months, including the recently confirmed UFC on ESPN 45 show capped off by Jack Hermansson vs. Brendan Allen in June. In addition to that and Vettori-Cannonier’s UFC on ESPN 46 showcase, the UFC broke the news on Thursday that Sean Strickland (26-5) will claim the top spot on a UFC event on July 1. He will taking on rising contender Abusupiyan Magomedov (25-4-1) at 185 pounds, in the lone bout matched up thus far for this Las Vegas-based UFC on ESPN 47 event.

“Tarzan” Strickland ended a two-fight skid in January when he took home a five-round unanimous verdict over Nassourdine Imavov. That victory put the end to a rough patch that included a knockout at the hands of future champ Alex Pereira, and also featured a split call loss to Jared Cannonier. Prior to the “Poatan” setback, middleweight and light heavyweight Strickland had rattled off six straight wins, beating tough outs like Jack Hermansson, Uriah Hall and Brendan Allen.

While Strickland holds a litany of in-Octagon experience, with 18 UFC appearances to date, the same cannot be said about Magomedov. “Abus” will only be competing under the promotion’s banner for the second time, and has already earned a main event placement. His debut came against Dustin Stoltzfus in September 2022, and he belted the Pennsylvania native with a front kick and wiped him out with follow-up punches in just 19 seconds. Dating back to 2016, Magomedov has lost just once, when he succumbed to a knockout blow from Louis Taylor for the 2018 PFL season championship. The Russian’s finish rate sits at a clean 80%, far higher than Strickland’s of 54%.Abdul Razak Alhassan vs Brunno Ferreira Ariane Lipski vs Melissa Gatto Joanderson Brito vs Khusein Askhabov Ivana Siric Petrovic vs Luana Carolina Max Griffin vs Michael Morales Jordan Leavitt vs Elves Brener Oliveira Damir Ismagulov vs Grant Dawson Kevin Lee vs Rinat Fakhretdinov Vinc Pichel vs Benoit St. Denis Alexander Romanov vs Blagoy Ivanov Yana Santos vs Macy Chiasson