UFC 166 results and photos: Adlan Amagov knocks out T.J. Waldburger in first

HOUSTON – As T.J. Waldburger found out, Adlan Amagov can generate great power in short distances.

While Waldburger tried to get their fight to the ground, Amagov stung him close-in with punches to set up a first-round finish.

The welterweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 166 event at Toyota Center in Houston. It streamed on Facebook ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 1 and the pay-per-view main card.

Amagov, a Combat Sambo champion, attempted a few of his patented spinning kicks to start off the bout. One of them, a back kick, slammed into the gut of Waldburger, who immediately abandoned his plans to stand with the Chechnyan fighter and clinched for a takedown against the fence.

There, while he held a leg and tried to wrestle the fight to the ground, Amagov stung him with punches to the side of the head. Upon separating, Amagov landed a left hook that took Waldburger’s legs from him and sent him crashing face-first to the mat.

Waldburger rolled to his back and tried in vain to stop the punishment, but a series of huge punches overhead separated him from consciousness. Referee intervention came a little too late at the 3:45 mark of the first.

“I feel great,” Amagov said. “It was a pretty short fight. He got me with a low kick. We exchanged low kicks and then I was able to knock him out. There’s not much more to say. We’ll see what’s next. Whatever the UFC decides for me.”

Amagov (13-2-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), a Strikeforce veteran, earns his second straight UFC win since his transfer to the industry-leading promotion, while Waldburger (16-8 MMA, 4-3 UFC) goes back to the drawing board after a second-round submission of Nick Catone at this past December’s TUF 16 Finale.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 166 results include:

• Adlan Amagov def. T.J. Waldburger via KO (punches) – Round 1, 3:45
• Tony Ferguson def. Mike Rio via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 1:52
• Andre Fili def. Jeremy Larsen via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:53
• Kyoji Horiguchi def. Dustin Pague via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:51

For complete coverage of UFC 166, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Houston.