Magomedov chokes Oleksiejczuk unconscious at UFC Baku and calls out Adesanya

Abus Magomedov put on a dominant first-round performance at UFC Baku, finishing Michal Oleksiejczuk via guillotine choke at the 3:25 mark and then using his post-fight microphone time to demand a fight with former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

The Russian-German middleweight controlled the bout from the outset, rocking Oleksiejczuk on the feet with a hard elbow before taking the fight to the ground and locking in the choke that left his opponent unconscious.

“I want to fight against Israel Adesanya,” Magomedov said in his post-fight interview. “Now we are almost on the same level and I hope I’m going to get the fight after this performance.”

The callout carries genuine weight given where both men currently stand. Magomedov, now 29-7-1, has won four of his past five fights and was eager to make a statement after suffering a second-round submission loss to Joe Pyfer this past October. Adesanya, meanwhile, is enduring the worst run of his career — a four-fight losing streak stretching back to 2023 that has significantly eroded his standing at the top of the division.

Whether the UFC moves to book the matchup remains to be seen, but Magomedov’s finish was the kind of eye-catching performance that tends to accelerate those conversations.