Tahir Abdullayev made sure his long-awaited Octagon debut at UFC Baku ended with a celebration in front of his home fans.
Opening the UFC Baku card on Saturday, the Azerbaijani welterweight rallied late to stop previously unbeaten prospect Jefferson Nascimento with a controversial third-round TKO.
“Tank” spent much of the opening frame stalking his opponent around the cage as Nascimento remained elusive and hesitant to engage. The Brazilian’s movement and stick-and-move approach prevented Abdullayev from finding any real rhythm, resulting in a slow and uneventful first round.
However, the second frame saw the action pick up as “Toddynho” found success with his counters and repeatedly caught Abdullayev coming forward, landing clean right hands and leg kicks. Despite eating several shots, the hometown favorite never stopped applying pressure and managed to close the round with a few meaningful connections of his own.
Abdullayev secured an early takedown in the final round and repeatedly dragged Nascimento back to the mat whenever the Brazilian tried to scramble to his feet. From the top position, “Tank” mixed in heavy punches and hammerfists while steadily taking control of the fight.
As the ground-and-pound intensified, the referee stepped in at the 4:28 mark of Round 3 to wave off the contest. The stoppage immediately drew controversy, however, as “Toddynho” sprang to his feet and protested the decision, believing he could continue.
The victory moves Abdullayev to 22-3 as a professional and gives him a successful first outing inside the Octagon at UFC Baku.
As for Nascimento, “Toddynho” suffers the first defeat of his career in his UFC debut and falls to 13-1 overall.
