Muslim Salikhov becomes first to land two spinning wheel kick KOs in UFC history

Dagestan’s ‘King of Kung Fu,’ Muslim Salikhov, turned forty years old earlier in 2024 but proved that Father Time is no obstacle to him by pulling another highlight out of his bag of tricks. 

The Sanda martial arts practitioner came into his UFC Macau fight against Kenan Song, who enjoyed a home-field advantage, as a moderate favorite, but all the odds said if he won it would be by decision. 

However, Salikhov displayed the skills that earned him an 8-4 UFC record, first dumping Kenan Song off of a cross-caught kick.

Then, the Dagestani striker set up his finishing move before finally unleashing it. He now has two knockouts in the last five years, and both are spinning wheel kick knockouts. 

Obviously, landing such a rare move to finish two opponents is special in any time period, which is why no one has done it before in the world’s top MMA organization, but doing it in a span of two years at ages 38 and 40 makes it all the more impressive. Muslim did the same to Andre Fialho in 2022.

Salikhov asked for more fights and bigger fights in his post-fight interview, so perhaps he knows something we do not, like the secret to eternal life, and will continue to beat younger foes at welterweight as he appears to age.