“Thank you UFC for the opportunity and thank you all for your support,” the Germany-representing fighter wrote on social media. “I will not stop trying to make you proud of me. I can’t blame myself for anything, because the whole camp gave all the best. Yesterday was not my day, but the goal remains the same.
The middleweight bout, which headlined the UFC on ESPN 48 tournament in Las Vegas last weekend, ended at 4:20 of the second round with a TKO win for the American fighter.
Ten months earlier, the 32-year-old native of Dagestan made a successful debut in the strongest league in the world, already in the 19th second of the match, finishing with a technical knockout of Dustin Stoltzfus.