Murtazali Magomedov beats Jose Delano by unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 124

Murtazali Magomedov kept his unbeaten record intact on Saturday, taking a unanimous decision over Jose Delano on the preliminary card of UFC Vegas 124 in Las Vegas. All three judges scored the fight 29-28, as first reported by MMA Fighting.

The narrow margin marks a change of pace for Magomedov. The 27-year-old now stands at 11-0, and his most recent recorded fight, on June 20 at UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Horiguchi, ended in a first-round submission of Melsik Baghdasaryan. This time he needed all three rounds and the scorecards.

Magomedov's numbers point to a grappling-first approach. He averages 5.17 takedowns per 15 minutes and 5.2 submission attempts per 15 minutes, against 4.83 significant strikes landed per minute at 48 percent accuracy.

Delano, a 30-year-old Brazilian known as "Ze," falls to 17-3. He is a very different kind of fighter on paper: he lands 8.43 significant strikes per minute at 64 percent accuracy, and his career numbers show no takedown or submission attempts. His most recent recorded fight before this one was a unanimous decision win over Robert Ruchala on April 4 at UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Duncan.

Why it matters

• The stylistic contrast was stark: Delano out-lands Magomedov by 3.6 significant strikes per minute on his career averages, while Magomedov's takedown rate is far higher.
• The two are nearly identical physically. Both are orthodox fighters with a 70-inch (178 cm) reach, and Magomedov is one inch taller at five-foot-nine against Delano's five-foot-eight.
• Delano's win streak, which included the April decision, ends, while Magomedov extends his perfect record to 11 fights.

The result came on a card headlined by a heavyweight bout between Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Johnny Walker.