A postponed middleweight bout between Shamidkhan Magomedov and Omran Chaaban was the featured contest on the fourth episode of The Ultimate Fighter 32 and Alexa Grasso took a 3-1 lead on fellow coach Valentina Shevchenko.
Chaaban battled back after losing the opening round to earn the first submission win of the season. Magomedov and Chaaban were set to meet in the first middleweight bout of the season. However, the athletic commission intervened when it was revealed Chaaban didn’t receive medical clearance on the day of the fight because he had a cold sore at the time that had not healed.
The 185-pound matchup was postponed and the extra time seemed to help the 23-year-old fighter more than his 29-year-old opponent. Chaaban is 6-1 as a pro and had won a title in the UAE Warriors organization before competing on TUF 32. He said prior to the fight he thought his reach and jab would be an advantage for him.
Magomedov is 8-1 as a pro with three wins under the LFA banner. The Russian, like so many other fighters from Dagestan, implemented a wrestling-heavy attack and didn’t allow Chaaban any space to strike.
Chaaban went for a guillotine choke late in the first round and appeared to have a solid grip of his opponent’s neck, but Magomedov slammed him to the ground with another takedown and used it to escape the submission attempt. The fighter from Finland landed a hard knee as Magomedov shot for another early takedown early in the second round, but Magomedov completed his attempt and eventually tried a kneebar that looked as though it was locked in flush.
“He’s got it, he’s not cranking it. I don’t understand what’s going on,” UFC president Dana White could be heard saying from cage side. “Wow, I thought there was no way in hell he was getting out of that.”
After escaping the kneebar, Chaaban took advantage of his long limbs and was able to reverse positions and secure a D’Arce choke. Magomedov withstood the hold for a while, but Chaaban was patient, persistent and after he cinched it up tighter, Magomedov went unconscious and the fight was stopped due to technical submission.
“Chaaban was close to losing this fight, but he got the choke and got the win,” White said afterwards. “One of the things I love about this sport is you never know what can happen. Somebody can be getting dominated and can pull off a win. There’s so many different ways to win and so many different ways to lose, and Chaaban just proved it again.”
Chaaban, the youngest fighter on TUF 32 and a confident jiu-jitsu player, said after his win: “If you’re scrambling with me, you better hide your neck and your limbs.”
NEXT UP
Matchup selection belonged to Shevchenko, who chose for Zygimantas Ramaska of Lithuania to face Team Grasso’s Bekhzod Usmonov of Tajikistan in the next 145-pound matchup.
The two featherweights are set to meet on Episode 5 in what is being described as “one of the most action-packed fights in Ultimate Fighter history.”
PREVIOUSLY ON TUF 32
Episode 3: Australia’s Kaan Ofli of Team Grasso defeated England’s Nathan Fletcher of Team Shevchenko via unanimous two-round decision to advance in the 145-pound tournament.
Episode 2: The middleweight tournament opened with Team Grasso’s Robert Valentin earning an 18-second knockout win over Team Shevchenko’s Giannis Bachar.
Episode 1: Roedie Roets of Team Shevchenko defeated Guillermo Torres of Team Grasso via three-round decision in the first featherweight fight of the season.