Shara Magomedov and Armen Petrosyan, UFC 308 Credit: UFC Fight Pass
Rising middleweight star Shara Magomedov took on Armen Petrosyan on the main card of UFC 308 on Saturday.
Petrosyan was looking to bounce back from his loss to Rodolfo Vieira, which put him 3-2 in the UFC. Shara “Bullet” won her first three fights inside the Octagon, improving to a perfect 14-0 record.
The first round began with Petrosyan taking the center of the Octagon and landing several kicks to his opponent’s lead leg. Shara returned with a kick of her own, which Amen caught and countered with a punch in the air. In the short boxing exchange that followed, Amen cracked Shara several times. As both fighters reset, Shara continued to bounce on the outside trying to land the lead hand. Amen continued to attack his opponent’s legs, taking advantage of Tai’s clinch and landing knees on several occasions.
Midway through the round, Petrosyan was clipped by a counter from Magomedov and fell back slightly. A few seconds later, Magomedov evaded a leg kick and returned it with one of his own. Shara would have continued to time his leg attacks with success as the rounds progressed. Magomedov landed a lightning side kick with less than a minute left in the round, sending his opponent to the floor. Magomedov was also able to check on Armen as he landed a few leg kicks as he continued to throw kicks. Shara landed a spinning backfist near the end of the round, eliciting a huge cheer from the crowd.
The second round started with Petrosyan quickly going back to leg kicks. Shara continued to move along the cage, feinting leg attacks and trying to land counter lead hooks. About a minute into the round, Amen landed a kick into Shara’s cup that briefly halted the action. When the match resumed approximately 40 seconds later, Shara clipped her opponent with a counter hook and began a clinch. Once the two fighters separated, Petrosyan landed another blow that grazed his opponent’s cup. The action continued as Petrosyan continued to locate his kicks. Magomedov began to vary his attacks and started stabbing the body with his lead hand. With less than two minutes left in the round, Shara began throwing more kicks, one of which hit his opponent’s cup. Once again, the operation is temporarily stopped.
Once the match resumed, Petrosyan continued to chase his opponent around the Octagon. Shara landed to the body and looked like she was going to come up top with her other hand, but continued to miss punches upstairs. With seconds left in the round, Magomedov began mixing up his attacks, still looking erratic, bouncy, and explosive. Shara raised her knees and did a teepee feint, then rolled over and hit a spinning backfist, landing partially. Magomedov used the momentum of the landed blow to “ping” his opponent, spinning to the other side, and flowing straight into another spinning backfist, miraculously landing on the same surface and literally knocking his opponent off the canvas. I jumped it. There was no need for a follow-up attack as Shara Magomedov chose to leave, sealing a highlight-reel finish with a smooth exclamation point.
Official result: Shara Magomedov def. Armen Petrosyan KO (double spinning backfist), round 2, 4:50
