UFC Auckland video: Zubaira Tukhugov blasts Kevin Aguilar with barrage of punches to earn first round TKO

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Zubaira Tukhugov needed less than four minutes to storm to a TKO finish over Kevin Aguilar in the featured prelim at UFC Fight Night from Auckland, New Zealand.

The frequent training partner of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov had arguably his strongest performance to date after dropping Aguilar twice during a flurry of punches that stopped the fight at 3:21 into the opening round.

After drawing Aguilar into a fire fight, Tukhugov connected with a left hook that put his opponent down on the canvas. Aguilar bounced back up but he was still on rubber legs as Tukhogov surged forward with a barrage of punches, looking for the finish.

The Russian featherweight tagged Aguilar with a pair of nasty rights before following up with one more left hook that precipitated the end of the fight. With Aguilar down, Tukhugov began raining down with a series of punches that gave referee Marc Goddard no choice but to stop the contest.

Dropped twice with two left hooks @ZubairaTukhugov earned the TKO at #UFCAuckland pic.twitter.com/ABLLmdGC51

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 22, 2020

“Everyday I’m working with it,” Tukhugov said about his powerful left hand. “That’s my best move with the left hook.”

After a split draw in his last fight at UFC 242 and a split decision loss at UFC 198, Tukhugov gets back in the win column for the first time since 2015 with the TKO against Aguilar.

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