Aussie lightweight Jamie Mullarkey suffered his sixth MMA loss in a heavy KO defeat against the biggest underdog on the UFC 74 card.
Mullarkey was fighting last-minute replacement, Tajikistani debutant Muhammad Naimov, with the ring-in paying around $4.50 odds after getting the call up to fight on Tuesday.
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The rangy Mullarkey looked dominant early, setting his range and using his jab well, but Naimov, who had a massive crowd at home watching the fight at a stadium at 5am local time, wasn’t shaken by the task at hand.
The Tajikistani landed powerful leg kicks that jolted the Aussie, however, Mullarkey was still ahead landing 43 strikes to Naimov’s 20 midway through the second round.
Yet it all changed in an instant, when the Australian was caught with a cracking counter right-hook when he marched forward on a take-down feint.
Naimov added a few more strikes on the ground leaving it the referee no option to call it in at 2:59 in round two.
With the win, Naimov became the second fighter in UFC history from Tajikistan to earn a victory inside the octagon.
The loss ends a two-fight win streak for the 28-year-old Mullarkey, while Naimov goes to 9-2 overall.
“The last three years have been a really hard time,” Naimov said. “Three years, I carried a lot of things in this sport. Today it pays off. A lot of people wait for this debut. Nobody believed I can beat this lightweight. Featherweight, you guys have a problem. You guys have a big problem.
“You guys have a new king. That short guy [Alexander Volkanovski], Max Holloway, forget about them. I’m here.”
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