Islam Makhachev was at a loss for words after watching Muslim Salikhov KO Song Kenan at UFC Macau. After losing two fights in a row in the last year, Salikhov has bounced back strong with two back-to-back wins.
Salikhov is a pure striker and has made spinning kicks his MO for knockouts. His leg kicks are dangerous, He sets them up beautifully as well with well-disguised feints, making them think he is going after the calf to suddenly turn around and execute a spinning heel kick.
After just a little under 4 minutes in the first round, he did something similar at UFC Macau. He now becomes the only fighter in UFC history with 2 wheel kick KOs. His spectacular performance also won him a $50k bonus.
Impressed by his athleticism, Makhachev responded to the KO on Twitter complimenting his 40-year-old countryman.
“King of KungFu @MuslimSalikhov”
It will be interesting to see if the veteran fighter can carry this momentum forward and string a bunch of wins together so he can take on some ranked opponents.
Despite being at an age where most fighters look forward to having their gloves, Salikhov wants more fights.
Salikhov puts down his demands
After his spectacular UFC Macau performance, Salikhov has reassured fans that he was here to stay and even asserted that he was just getting started,
“You know, I’m just beginning, I’m just understanding what’s going on here, let’s do it. Like more better fights, I want more fights, and I’m ready.”
The 40-year-old is still fighting unranked fighters but if he keeps kicking people in the head and knocking them out in the process, he may yet jump into the top 15 of the welterweight division. Of course, the welterweight division being as stacked as it is, only compounds the difficulty from there.
Realistically, a title shot in the 170 lbs division is a bit far-fetched at the moment. Michael ‘Venom’ Page and Steven ‘Wonderboy’ Thomson are lurking at 15 and 10 respectively, while others like Ian Garry and Joaquin Buckley are fighting their way into the top 5, which is inhabited by former champions like Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards.
So at 40, he might not have enough time to reach up there with the best of the best. But that doesn’t mean he can’t rack up a few KOs along the way.
