Paul Abraham
It was a perfect weekend for seven former IMMAF champions. Axel Sola, Abdul Hussein, Magomed Tuchalov and Rizvan Kuniev all won at UFC Abu Dhabi: Ankalaev vs. Guskov. Eliezer Kubanza, Nkosi Ndebele and Rasul Magomedov also picked up victories at PFL Washington.
Axel Sola was the quickest of the seven. The Frenchman submitted Ismael Bonfim in the first round. It was an important result after his loss to Mason Jones at UFC London, the first defeat of his professional career.
Before joining the UFC, Sola had already built a major amateur résumé. He represented Team France for several years and won the IMMAF European Championship. He also reached two World Championship finals and collected gold medals at the Oceania and Pan-American Championships. At the peak of his amateur career, he was ranked No. 1 pound-for-pound by the IMMAF. The win over Bonfim puts him back on track. The Brazilian came into the UFC with a lot of hype and is still a dangerous opponent. Sola did not give him time to settle and found the finish early.
Abdul Hussein also won by submission. The Finnish bantamweight stopped Cody Gibson in the third round after a competitive fight. Gibson had much more UFC experience, but Hussein stayed focused and took his chance late.
Hussein was already a top IMMAF athlete more than ten years ago. He won the European Championship in 2015 and became world champion in 2016. Across those two tournaments, he won eight fights. His road to the UFC was much longer than expected, but he finally arrived with a 15-2 record and years of experience behind him.
Magomed Tuchalov completed the clean sweep for the former amateur champions at UFC Abu Dhabi. He defeated Brendson Ribeiro by unanimous decision and kept his professional record perfect.
Tuchalov won the 2019 IMMAF Junior World Championships at 185 pounds. Since turning professional, he has built a 6-0 record and finished five of his opponents. Against Ribeiro, he did not get another stoppage, but he controlled the fight well enough to earn a clear decision in his UFC debut.
Rizvan Kuniev completed the UFC side of the weekend with a stoppage win over Tyrell Fortune. The Russian heavyweight finished the fight with a knee at 1:12 of the third round. Before turning professional, Kuniev also competed under the WMMAA banner. At the 2018 European Championships, he stopped Dmytro Siekira by TKO at 4:29 of the first round.
The other three wins came at PFL Washington.
Eliezer Kubanza submitted Chris Mixan with a D’Arce choke in the second round. The victory moved his record to 9-1. Kubanza also had a strong career with the IMMAF. Representing the Democratic Republic of Congo, he won the African Championships in 2017 at welterweight and again in 2019 at middleweight. In the 2019 final, he defeated Axel Sola.
Nkosi Ndebele also won at PFL Washington. The South African beat Brandon Davis by unanimous decision and improved his record to 13-3. Ndebele also came through the IMMAF circuit and won the African Championships in 2017.
Rasul Magomedov also picked up a win at PFL Washington. The Bahraini heavyweight defeated Sullivan Cauley by unanimous decision. Before turning professional, Magomedov built an impressive IMMAF résumé. In 2021, he won the European Championships and the World Championships. One year later, he added the Asian title to his record.
The seven fighters did not win in the same way. Sola, Hussein and Kubanza found submissions, Kuniev scored a knockout, while Tuchalov, Ndebele and Magomedov went to the judges. Still, the result was the same: seven former IMMAF and WMMAA champions competed across the UFC and PFL, and all seven won.
