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UFC star produced a 19-second KO on his debut in Paris to instantly earn a fight with a former UFC champion

On this day in 2022, a new UFC arrival made a statement in the French capital.

This weekend sees the Octagon return to Paris, France for one of the strongest Fight Night cards of the year.

There are big stakes at play, exciting debuts, and, as you can always expect from these events, an electric crowd from start to finish.

The UFC has been hosting events in Paris around this time of year on a consistent schedule in recent times, with one of the promotion’s previous trips taking place on September 3.

A fighter that debuted at the event in France two years ago has gone on to become a strong competitor at middleweight, with his return now booked for UFC 320, where Magomed Ankalaev faces Alex Pereira in a rematch.

Abus Magomedov produced a perfect UFC debut against Dustin Stoltzfus in Paris

On September 3 of 2022, the featured prelim at UFC Paris featured the Octagon debut of a former PFL fighter.

Abus Magomedov came into the UFC with a record of 24-4-1, and the new arrival got off to the best start possible when he stepped inside the Octagon for the first time.

The Russian competitor, who fights out of Germany, landed a huge front kick to Dustin Stoltzfus just over ten seconds into their fight which snapped his opponent’s head back.

Magomedov smelled blood in the water and quickly followed his kick up with several big punches that dropped and finished Stoltzfus in just 19 seconds.

His perfect debut clearly had the UFC matchmakers thinking very highly of the exciting new middleweight that had joined the roster.

He was put straight into a UFC main event against Sean Strickland, where the American came out on top, which led to him earning his title fight with Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov touch gloves just before their UFC Fight Night bout
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Abus Magomedov turned it around after suffering back-to-back losses in the UFC

His loss to Sean Strickland showed that Abus Magomedov was catapulted to the top of the division too quickly, but his next fight produced another setback.

He then ended up facing Caio Borralho, with the Brazilian picking up a unanimous decision win to continue his run that has made him a title contender and one half of this weekend’s main event.

Caio Borralho enters the Octagon for his fight on Dana White's Contender Series
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Fortunately for Magomedov, he has been able to turn things around in his latest outings, winning three in a row since his loss to Borralho.

Magomedov is now set to face Joe Pyfer at UFC 320 on October 4.