Murtazali Magomedov won’t forget his debut at UFC Vegas 119 after he locked up a rare Scottish twister to finish Melsik Baghdasaryan in the first round.
The end came after a few striking exchanges led to Magomedov securing a takedown and then eventually looking to take the back on his opponent. Magomedov eventually trying to grab a body triangle but instead he saw an opening to latch onto Baghdasaryan’s arm and head instead before he leaned back to really secure the submission.
A split second later, Baghdasaryan was furiously tapping out from the painful submission with the referee stopping the fight at 1:17 in the first round.
“This is exactly what I hoped for and it happened the way I wanted,” Magomedov said after his win. “This guy is a very good opponent for me … I want to fight, I am ready always. I don’t want to talk too much but the featherweight division is almost dying. Let’s bring it back and make it great again.”
Following the win, Magomedov said one of his teammates actually showed him that submission and he was practicing the move prior to the fight. Of course, the variation of the Scottish twister was made famous by ex-UFC fighter Stevie Ray, who pulled off the move twice while competing in the PFL including a submission win over former UFC champion Anthony Pettis.
Now Magomedov can stake his claim to fame as the first person to pull off that variation of the twister in the UFC with his win over Baghdasaryan on Saturday. The win also moves Magomedov to 11-0 in his career and he appears to be a name to watch in the featherweight division moving forward.
