UFC Crowns Malott, Magomedov For October Honors

Mike Malott picked up Breakout Performance honors for October after knocking out Joaquin Buckley at UFC Edmonton, extending his winning streak to five and cracking the welterweight top ten.

The UFC handed out its monthly awards following a five-event stretch in October that produced 65 fights with nearly 70 percent finishing inside the distance, UFC.com reported. Thirty-six bouts ended by strikes and nine more by submission. The Edmonton card set a record with eleven consecutive stoppages and matched Belgrade's modern-era mark of twelve total finishes on one event.

Malott Stops Buckley in Breakout Showing

Malott faced questions about the quality of his earlier wins over Kevin Holland and Gilbert Burns, but his first-round stoppage of a top-ten opponent silenced doubters. He won the opening round on all three cards before putting Buckley away in a fashion the Missouri native had never experienced. The 34-year-old Canadian now carries just eighteen professional fights into his spot in the rankings, with fifteen of those ending early — a light workload that suggests plenty left in the tank despite his age.

Abus Magomedov claimed Submission of the Month after choking out Cam Rowston at UFC 333. The Russian-born middleweight forced a panicked takedown attempt and immediately locked in a guillotine that put Rowston to sleep. Magomedov has won five of his last six and sits ninth in the Meta rankings at 185 pounds, with his three losses coming against Sean Strickland, Caio Borralho, and Joe Pyfer.

Julian Erosa earned both Knockout of the Month and a hundred-thousand-dollar Performance bonus for his first-round finish of JeongYeong Lee at UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs Nolan. The knockout doubled as Erosa's retirement fight. Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili won Fight of the Month for their trilogy bout at UFC 333, which Yan took by unanimous decision on 48-47 scorecards across the board.

The UFC returns to action this Saturday with its next Fight Night card available on Paramount Plus.

Source: ufc.com