After a pair of scrapped fight bookings, Abusupiyan Magomedov once again is scheduled for his UFC debut.
Magomedov (24-4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will take on Joaquin Buckley (14-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in a middleweight fight on the UFC’s June 4 Fight Night card. A person with knowledge of the booking confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie, but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
The June 4 event does not yet have a publicly announced venue or location, but is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+.
Magomedov reached the PFL’s 2018 middleweight playoff final, but was knocked out by Louis Taylor in 33 seconds and came up short of the $1 million prize. In 2019 and 2020, he picked up submission wins for EMC and KSW. Then in late 2021, he was set to take on Gerald Meerschaert in his UFC debut, but had the fight scrapped when Meerschaert pulled out. He was booked to fight Aliaskhab Khizriev at UFC on ESPN 33 eight days ago, but had to pull out of the card, himself.
Buckley has back-to-back wins and victories in four of his past five fights. His current run started with a viral moment in October 2020 when he knocked out Impa Kasanganay with what became the Knockout of the Year on most lists and one of the best KOs in history. After a TKO of Jordan Wright, he was knocked out by Alessio Di Chirico in January 2021, but bounced back with a TKO of Antonio Arroyo and a split decision over Abdul Razak Alhassan in February.
With the addition, the UFC’s June 4 event now includes:
