Magomedsharipov survives late barrage to win decision over Bochniak

And to think Zabit Magomedsharipov and Kyle Bochniak had been scheduled to square off on Fight Pass.

The pair of featherweight prospects let it all hang out in a fight that was bumped up to UFC 223's pay-per-view just a few days ago, with Magomedsharipov taking a barn burner of a contest by unanimous decision.

The highly-touted 27-year-old extended his win streak to a gaudy 11 and improved his Octagon record to a perfect 3-0 in his first fight to go the distance in over four years - one he followed with a call to face Yair Rodriguez in his native Russia later this year.

The comparatively diminutive Bochniak looked to bring the pressure in an effort to negate Magomedsharipov's reach, and while his right hand found the Dagestani's chin on more than one occasion, Magomedsharipov appeared to be toying with his foe for much of the contest's early going, landing left hooks and kicks to both the midsection and dome at will.

When he wasn't uncorking spinning techniques for the fun of it, Magomedsharipov was dragging Bochniak to the mat with a variety of takedowns, but a resilient Bochniak would not be subdued and repeatedly dared Magomedsharipov to test his chin while throwing some return fire of his own.

With Magomedsharipov's takedown-heavy third round appearing to have done a number on his gas tank, Bochniak boldly closed out the entertaining tilt by walking him down and unleashed a typhoon of looping hooks that found his foe's dome, but weren't enough to steal the nod on the scorecards, as Magomedsharipov's early efforts had dazzled all three judges into giving him the nod.

Adding to the impressiveness of his performance, Magomedsharipov's coach Mark Henry told Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting after the win that the fighter broke his right hand warming up in the locker room prior to the bout.

Bochniak has now alternated wins and losses over a handful of walks to the Octagon.