What’s next for Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov after UFC Vegas 76?

In the main event of UFC Vegas 76, Sean Strickland was taking on unranked Abus Magomedov.

Strickland entered the fight coming off a decision victory over Nassourdine Imavov, in a scrap he took on short notice. That fight got him back into the win column after suffering back-to-back losses to Jared Cannonier and Alex Pereira. Magomedov, meanwhile, was coming off a 19-second KO win over Dustin Stoltzfus in his UFC debut to earn a main event spot.

Ultimately, it was Strickland who got the win as he scored a second-round TKO, to get his first stoppage win since November 2020. Now, after UFC Vegas 76, here is what I think should be next for Strickland and Magomedov after the event.

Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland wasn’t happy that he had to fight unranked Abus Magomedov but says the UFC paid him well to do so. Ultimately, he showed the difference between a ranked and unranked opponent as he scored a second-round TKO victory. After losing the first round, Strickland started to take over as Magomedov started to gas and got the stoppage win.

After the win, Sean Strickland called for a title shot, but the winner of Robert Whittaker-Dricus Du Plessis is next in line, but if they can’t make the quick turnaround, Jared Cannonier seems likely to be next. With that, Strickland will likely need another fight and a logical next option is to face the loser of Whittaker-Du Plessis later this year, and should he win that, he would get a title shot.

Abus Magomedov

The UFC was very high on Abus Magomedov, despite him getting knocked out in 33 seconds in the PFL finals to Louis Taylor just four fights ago. Ultimately, Sean Strickland proved to be too much too soon for Magomedov who suffered a TKO loss and will now fight an unranked opponent next.

Abus Magomedov is now 1-1 in the UFC and there are several options for him, but a fight I like for him is Bruno Silva who is coming off a submission loss to Brendan Allen in his chance to enter the rankings.