Introduction
Friday, August 13th, Russian welterweight prospect Magomed Magomedkerimov will be in action for PFL, where he will be looking to advance to the PFL season finale against veteran Sadibou Sy. He will be looking for another win, as Magomedkerimov looks to score another win en route to a million-dollar payday. He represents Champion, a little-known camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Submission Wrestling: Magomedkerimov is typical of a Russian fighter at this day and age. He is built Ford tough (or whatever Russia’s equivalent to Ford is), he is a pressure fighter and he has very good submission wrestling ability. Most of his finishes come by way of submission, and he has a strong arsenal of holds. His grip strength is fantastic. Once he gets a hold of a neck, it doesn’t take long for him to squeeze the tap out of his opponents. He was especially impressive in his most recent offering, as he used a rarely seen (outside of Oleksiy Oliynyk) Ezequiel choke to upend Curtis Millender. There aren’t many that can deal with Magomedkerimov’s attack, which is why everybody is so high on this guy.
Strength of Schedule/Experience: Magomedkerimov is a 33-fight veteran, so he has a bevy of experience. Not only has he taken all of these fights, but he has fought a who’s-who of opponents. A list of opponents he’s defeated include UFC vets Curtis Millender, John Howard and Bojan Velickovic; PFL winner Ray Cooper III; and Contender Series alum Chris Curtis (twice). He hasn’t lost since 2015, showing he’s getting better even with a tougher schedule.
Needs Improvement
Injury/Illness Prone: In 2019, Magomedkerimov’s bid for the $1 million dollar payday was cut short, as he had to drop out of the tournament due to illness. The reason is unclear, but it likely had to do with weight cutting issues, which dropped him from one of the most important fights of his career. His first PFL fight of this season was cancelled after Magomedkerimov withdrew from his fight. Early in PFL’s inception, he dropped out of another fight with Chris Cisneros which cost him potential points in the tournament (due to injury). Magomedkerimov needs to get that situation fixed, because if he’s able to consistently make it to the cage, his ascent will be very quick.
Outlook
UFC Contender: At 31 years old, Magomedkerimov is in the prime of his career. He really has no reason to leave PFL at this point if he feels a million-dollar payday is automatic for him, as he’s been dominant when he fights in a PFL cage. He has not lost since 2015, and in that time, he’s gotten better and better every single time he’s fought. He’s well-rounded and tough as nails. He gets in the cage and gets down to business quickly. Once he has a hold of his opponent and has them uncomfortable, he’s on autopilot to dominate the fight. When he eventually decides that the UFC is the way to go, he will be an immediate impact player with the company. He’s a guy that could quickly work his way up to a ranked position and get himself into contention.
MMA Intel 