Nursulton Ruziboev TKOs Eric McConico at UFC Seattle
Nursulton Ruziboev stopped Eric McConico with strikes at 0:33 of the second round in a middleweight bout at Climate Pledge Arena on February 22, 2025. The quick finish earned Ruziboev a win on the Seattle card and halted McConico in his promotional debut. The official scorecards list the result as a second-round TKO, while the event recap confirms the time and method.
The Full Send MMA video above is a post-fight reaction interview with Ruziboev. It offers his response to the win, rather than footage of the stoppage itself. The bout reached the second round after a measured opening stretch. Ruziboev pressed forward with kicks and punches, while McConico worked to settle into his first appearance for the promotion. Once Ruziboev found his range, he hurt McConico with a sharp attack and continued striking until the referee intervened at 33 seconds. The finish was brief, but it gave the Uzbek middleweight a decisive result in front of the Seattle crowd.
The Seattle victory followed a unanimous-decision loss to Joaquin Buckley in May 2024, a bout Ruziboev fought at welterweight. He returned to middleweight for the McConico fight and later defeated Dustin Stoltzfus by unanimous decision in May 2025. In June 2026, Ruziboev submitted Andrey Pulyaev with a rear-naked choke at 3:58 of Round 1. His most recent bout came in September 2026, when Michael Page beat him by unanimous decision. The official fighter history records that sequence, including the Seattle stoppage.
McConico’s career also moved forward after his debut loss. He earned a unanimous-decision win over Cody Brundage in August 2025, then lost by third-round TKO to Baisangur Susurkaev that November. In April 2026, he outpointed Rodolfo Vieira over three rounds. His latest appearance was an August 2026 first-round knockout loss to Donte Johnson. The official fighter history lists each result. Those later performances show that the Seattle defeat did not define McConico’s run: he rebounded with wins over Brundage and Vieira before the Johnson stoppage.
For Ruziboev, the 33-second second-round finish provided a successful return to the middleweight division after the Buckley loss. For McConico, it was a harsh introduction to the top-level schedule, but he followed it with two notable wins. The official scorecards preserve the precise Seattle result, and Ruziboev’s interview captures his immediate reaction to a fast, emphatic victory.
Seattle was Ruziboev’s fourth appearance for the promotion and his first since May 2024. His first two bouts ended with first-round knockouts of Brunno Ferreira and Sedriques Dumas; Buckley then outpointed him over three rounds at welterweight. The McConico fight therefore brought Ruziboev back to the win column and to middleweight after a nine-month gap. His official fighter history lists the earlier results.
