“I’ve wanted to fight Pereira for a long time, even back when he won eight fights in a row,” Magomedov told UFC.com this week. “But I’m glad that it will happen in Baku, because it is very close to Dagestan. I will show what Kafkas is – the spirit of Kafkas.”
“Kafkas” is a term sometimes used to refer to the Caucasus region where Magomedov grew up. The region has produced numerous champions, including Khabib Nurmagomeev and Islam Makhachev, but Magomedov’s fighting style is markedly different from that of his two fellow UFC champions.
His unique, pirate-inspired look combined with a crowd-pleasing fighting style instantly attracted the support of UFC fans as he scored early victories over Bruno Silva, Antonio Trocoli, Michal Oleksiejczuk and Armen Petrosyan. But in February 2025, the Dagestan-born fighter suffered his first career loss at the hands of the ever-wily Michael “Venom” Page.