Adama Diop Stops Zaurbek Sabanov in DWCS Round Two
Adama Diop needed a second round to get the finish Dana White’s Contender Series is built to reward.
The Senegalese heavyweight stopped Zaurbek Sabanov by TKO at 2:13 of Round 2 on Week 8 of Season 10. The bout took place Tuesday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas and streamed on Paramount+.
Diop walked Sabanov to the fence and kept throwing. Referee Bryan Miner stepped in when the punches went unanswered and waved it off on the feet.
The official result was TKO by punches. Diop moved to 7-1. Sabanov fell to 4-1.
The first round had already gone the distance, the first fight on the card that needed a second period. Diop rushed forward to start the second, ate a knee in the clinch, then separated and found the shots that ended it.
Sabanov had entered undefeated and was listed as a sizable favorite in some markets. The 6-foot-4 Russian came out of Ares FC with finishing power and spinning attacks on his tape. None of that showed once Diop started landing clean.
Diop fights out of Mantis MMA in Dakar and carries the nickname Blindé. He is 31. He won the Hexagone MMA heavyweight title by decision in January and added the EFC heavyweight belt in April with a second-round TKO of Matunga Djikasa.
Five of his six wins before Las Vegas had come by knockout or TKO. The Contender Series stoppage fit the same pattern.
This was the second Senegalese appearance on the show after Demba Seck last year. Diop treated it like a job interview and closed it with volume against the cage.
The rest of Week 8 had already produced early finishes. Aieza Bertolso submitted Camila Reynoso in Round 1. Ian Escuza stopped Luca Borando in 32 seconds. Diop was the first winner who had to work past five minutes.
Contracts are announced after the full card. White had not made that call when Diop walked off. The tape he left behind was a standing heavyweight TKO in the second round.
Diop raised his arms and circled the cage while Sabanov was checked on the fence. For a prospect who built his record in France and South Africa, that was the moment that mattered in Las Vegas.
