“Abus started strong, but Strickland turned on the pressure at the end of the first round, and in the second round Abus was already dead,” MMAnews quotes the Brazilian. “You all saw the fight. The guy has a fake record – he has a lot of wins, but against whom? If you saw a fight, this guy turned his back, showing everyone, including the referee, that he didn’t want to fight anymore. It was very hard for him.”
Note that before the UFC on ESPN 48 tournament, Pereira announced that Magomedov twice refused to spar with him, directly accusing the native of Dagestan of cowardice. Magomedov, in response, explained that the first time he refused to spar with the Brazilian, because at that moment he was at the weight race stage, and the second time Pereira was already the UFC champion, and the fighter representing Germany did not want to train with a potential opponent.
Recall that the fight between Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov, who led the next event of the strongest league in the world, ended at around 4:20 of the second round with the victory of the American by technical knockout.