Azamat Bekoev secured the second finish of the night at UFC 311 with a highly impressive debut for the middleweight newcomer. As he spoke about in his post-fight interview, the 29-year old may have had to wait some time to get his opportunity, but when it finally arrived, he capitalized in style.
The Russian stepped in on short notice to replace Sedriques Dumas and take on Zachary Reese, who was coming off of back-to-back wins after suffering a loss in his UFC debut. The American has proven himself to be a dangerous striker, but this didn’t end up playing into the preliminary matchup on Jan. 18.
Bekoev got his hand raised via first-round finish having delivered some devastating ground-and-pound. After threatening with a submission attempt, Reese found himself on the bottom, where he ate several big shots from his opponent before the referee stepped in as he went out.
With the result at UFC 311, Bekoev has now won seven fights in a row with an overall record of 19-3, and he looks to be a serious threat at 185 pounds based on the short amount of time fans have seen of him in the UFC.
Watch the highlight reel finish from UFC 311 below:
