Nursulton Ruziboev picked up his 10th consecutive first-round finish, but Sedriques Dumas had complaints of an eye poke before the closing sequence.
The middleweight bout took place on the main card of UFC on ESPN 54 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., and didn’t make it out of the first round. Ruziboev (36-8-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) recorded his 25th opening-round finish at 3:18, but Dumas (9-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) attempted to get the referee’s attention before the final swarm.
Ruziboev was sharp with his counters early, causing Dumas to be very cautious with his offensive output. Becasue of this, Ruziboev could pick his shots, darting in and out with quick punches.
The controversial moment occurred when Ruziboev extended his fingers as Dumas came forward, leading to an eye poke that would later be seen on replay. Dumas backed away and grabbed his eye, and tried to get referee Vitor Ribeiro to pause the fight. His attempt was unsuccessful, and Ruziboev rushed in with punches.
Dumas dropped to the ground and covered up, leading to the first-round stoppage.
Check out video of the closing sequence below (via X):
Nursulton Ruziboev wins in round 1 after an apparent eye poke led to the finish. #UFCAtlanticCity pic.twitter.com/hM63KaC9Ap
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 31, 2024
Despite Dumas’ protests at the end of the fight, Ruziboev walks away with his hand raised for his 10th straight victory, each ending in the first round.
During his post-fight interview, the Uzbekistan-born fighter called for a matchup against Gerald Meerschaert, who just picked up a win over Bryan Barberena earlier this month.
Dumas falls to .500 in his UFC run, seeing a two-fight winning streak halted.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 54 results include:
- Nursulton Ruziboev def. Sedriques Dumas via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:18
- Kyle Nelson def. Bill Algeo via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:00
- Chidi Njokuani def. Rhys McKee via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nate Landwehr def. Jamall Emmers via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:43
- Virna Jandiroba def. Loopy Godinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Julio Arce def. Herbert Burns via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:00
- Dennis Buzukja def. Connor Matthews via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:22
- Ibo Aslan def. Anton Turkalj via TKO (punch) Round 3, 1:32
- Jacob Malkoun def. Andre Petroski via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:39
- Caolan Loughran def. Angel Pacheco via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 54.
