UFC Vegas 58 results: Said Nurmagomedov puts on dynamic striking display to beat Douglas Silva de Andrade

Said Nurmagomedov displayed a creative striking attack over three rounds to earn a unanimous decision win over Douglas Silva de Andrade at UFC Vegas 58.

Nurmagomedov constantly kept Silva de Andrade guessing as he launched spinning kicks and punches from just about every angle inside the octagon while mounting damage round after round. When the fight ended, the judges scored the fight 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 for Nurmagomedov, who has now won three fights in a row overall.

With this latest victory, Nurmagomedov is hoping he’ll be seeing an opponent with a number next to their name when he returns for his next fight.

“Anyone from the top 10, top 15,” Nurmagomedov said. “It’s time for me to enter the rankings.”

Known as an incredibly fast starter, Nurmagomedov was seeking a third consecutive finish in under one minute but Silva de Andrade was determined to slow down his attacks. After some clinching against the cage, Nurmagomedov was able to separate from the Brazilian as he began unleashing a variety of flashy kicks including several spinning attacks aimed at finishing Silva de Andrade.

Silva de Andrade did his best work when he was able to close the distance but standing on the outside was inviting disaster because Nurmagomedov’s reach advantage combined with blinding speed and wild creativity made him so dangerous.

The kicks coming from Nurmagomedov were continuously giving Silva de Andrade problems because he just couldn’t risk rushing forward to get inside. When Silva de Andrade finally threw caution to the wind, Nurmagomedov uncorked a nasty question mark kick along with a jumping knee strikes that nearly connected flush.

Silva de Andrade finally made Nurmagomedov pay late in the second round when he threw a spinning backfist of his own that put the Russian down on the canvas. The power from Silva de Andrade was the equalizer that forced Nurmagomedov to begin varying his own attacks while making sure he was staying out of range defensively.

As time was running out, the bantamweights really started unloading but it was still Nurmagomedov landing with more accuracy and power as he added another win to his resume while Silva de Andrade falls to 2-2 in his past four fights.