The Story Behind Gamzat Magomedov’s Controversial Lone Pro Loss
Gamzat Magomedov is one of the most promising mixed martial artists to come out of the well-entrenched Russian combat sports scene, holding a remarkable professional standing of 6-1 with two victories via knockout and one by way of submission.
But the “1” that was added to his record nearly three years ago sticks out like a sore thumb in what could have been a speckless slate. Magomedov was on the receiving end of a controversy when he made his promotional debut under the BRAVE Combat Federation banner in October 2018.
Magomedov was slapped with a disqualification loss due to illegal strikes when he fought JP “Young Savage” Buys of South Africa on the undercard of BRAVE CF 17.
The Russian standout seemed to be in full control for the better part of the contest and managed to thwart his opponent’s advances with takedown attempts and suffocating ground control.
Buys would refuse to submit, prompting Magomedov to turn up his offense in the third round. After the latter took the South African down at will midway of the final frame, he dropped a volley of solid blows to glue his counterpart on the canvas but inevitably led to his disqualification.
Referee Leon Roberts intervened and called a halt to the bout after Magomedov executed 12–6 elbow strikes, which is deemed illegal under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts and defined as “striking downwards using the point of the elbow.”
The disappointing defeat could have demoralized Magomedov and affected his reputation in the sport, but he chose to soldier on when the Bahrain-based outfit gave him the opportunity to redeem himself nine months later.
Magomedov washed away the bitter taste of the setback by dominating Ian Cleary over the course of three rounds to author a unanimous decision victory at BRAVE CF 24 in July 2019. Five months later, he made quick work of Team Lakay’s Harold Banario via first-round technical knockout at BRAVE CF 33.
He extended his winning streak in the organization this past March by having his hand raised in triumph at the expense of Matiss Zaharovs via unanimous decision at BRAVE CF 49: Super Fights.
Magomedov returns to action on August 1 as he is set to square off with unbeaten Austrian phenom Mochamed “The Beast” Machaev at BRAVE CF 52: Bad Blood in Milan, Italy.
A decisive victory over a high-profile opponent will further bolster his stock in the division and could land him a chance to vie for the vacant BRAVE CF Bantamweight World Championship.
Now that MMA gold is in sight, it just goes to prove that you can’t keep a good man down–especially if you are Gamzat Magomedov.
