Dagestan’s Rustam Khabilov burst onto the UFC scene with a very memorable debut win over Vinc Pichel. The fight was most notable for the huge suplexes landed by Khabilov throughout the first round which eventually knocked the overmatched Pichel unconcious.
Khabilov has achieved the rank of international Master of Sports in Sambo and he showed why in his shocking win over Pichel. He stated that he employed a “rudimentary Sambo technique,” to knock Pichel out in his post fight interview.
Below is MMAJunkie’s recap of the bout:
Rustam Khabilov has arrived in the UFC with a very rare form of knockout power.
The Russian lightweight used a series of suplexes, including one that rendered opponent Vinc Pichel unconscious, to pick up a stunning first-round knockout in his promotional debut.
The bout was part of the preliminary card of The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It aired on FUEL TV following additional prelims on Facebook and prior to a main card on FX.
Khabilov entered the organization with little name recognition but plenty of hype from those in the know, and their grand expectations for the 26-year-old fighter were clearly met.
Khabilov scored an early drag-takedown, and once Pichel got back to his feet, the Russian took his back and landed a big suplex. And then another. And once The Ultimate Fighter 15 cast member got to his feet a final time, another suplex followed, and it’d be the last one.
Pichel landed on his head and was out cold from the blow. Khabilov landed a few follow-up shots before the ref realized Pichel was already out and halted the bout at the 2:14 mark of the opening round.
After the fight, Khabilov played off the stunning suplex as an elementary sambo technique.
Before I came here to the fight, my friends were asking me to throw a suplex, so I was preparing for that, he said through a translator.
Khabilov (15-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has now won four straight fights, and his lone career defeat remains a split-decision loss to Ruslan Khaskhanov in M-1. Pichel (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), meanwhile, suffers his first career loss.
source: mmajunkie.com
