By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
FILIPINO-American mixed martial arts fighter Mark “Mugen” Striegl’s debut outing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) did not last long as he was stopped by Russian opponent Said Nurmagomedov in less than a minute.
Opened the proceedings for “UFC Fight Island 6” at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday, Baguio-based Striegl found himself in a deep hole early from which he could not recover from, knocked out (punches) just 51 seconds into the bout.
Mr. Striegl looked to take control of the contest right from the get-go but as he charged in, Mr. Nurmagomedov caught him with a counter left that sent the latter to his knee.
The Filipino then tried to regain control by going for a single-leg takedown.
But Mr. Nurmagomedov was not to allow Mr. Striegl to have his way, unleashing a series of shots to the side of the head before going for the finish with a barrage of ground strikes.
The loss dropped Mr. Striegl, 32, to three losses as opposed to 18 wins.
Entering the contest, he was looking to do well as he gets to fulfil a long MMA dream of his to parade his wares in the UFC.
Mr. Striegl was supposed to make his UFC debut in August until he contracted the coronavirus.
Mr. Nurmagomedov, with the win, improved his record to 14-2.
T-CITY OVER THE KOREAN ZOMBIE
Meanwhile in the main event, Brian “T-City” Ortega dominated “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung on his way to a unanimous decision victory, 50-45, 50-45, and 50-45.
American Ortega never allowed his opponent to get his game going, outclassing the Korean throughout the five-round battle, punctuated by solid hits, including an impressive spinning elbow that instantly dropped his opponent in the second round.
The win was a bounce-back for Mr. Ortega (15-1), who lost to erstwhile featherweight champion Max Holloway in his previous fight in December 2018.
The Korean Zombie (16-5), for his part, saw his two-fight winning streak come to an end.
Also victorious at UFC Fight Island 6 was former women’s strawweight champ Jessica Andrade of Brazil, who defeated Katlyn Chookagian in her flyweight division debut by technical knockout in the opening round.
Next for the UFC is “UFC 254” on Oct. 24 featuring the lightweight unification bout between reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia against interim champion Justin Gaethje of the United States.
