UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev kicks off this Saturday and while on paper it may seem to be a forgettable event, there are still plenty of exciting matchups between highly skilled prospects and should provide for a great afternoon of MMA for the fans.
The Prelims kick off with a lightweight bout between unranked contenders, Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady and Loik Radzhabov. Al-Selwady is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win against George Hardwick on Dana White’s Contender Series in August of last year & aims to notch his first win in the UFC on Saturday night. However, the debutant will have his work cut out for him as his opponent, Loik Radzhabov is no small order for any 155’er. Radzhabov started his UFC Career in strong form, beating Esteban Ribovics by unanimous decision at the start of 2023. However, the Tajikistan native’s rise up the rankings was abruptly halted after suffering a TKO loss to Mateusz Rebecki in June of 2023. Radzhabov has also faced criticism when it comes to his cardio and might find himself in trouble should the fight go all fifteen minutes. However- the true equalizer to sub-par cardio is finishing ability & Loik certainly posses it. Al-Selwady has been knocked out before in his career and could suffer a similar fate on Saturday night if he isn’t careful. I see this fight either coming by way of early knockout for Radzhabov or by a late finish or decision for Al-Selwady.
Next up is another matchup at lightweight between Ludovit Klein and AJ Cunningham. Cunningham is stepping into this bout on short notice & is notably the second biggest betting underdog on the card. Cunningham first debuted on DWCS in 2023 where he lost via second round KO. While the lightweight hopeful did secure a KO win in another promotion shortly after his contender series bout, I’m unsure if he will have the ability to overcome the issues Klein presents while in the octagon.
Moving on down the card we have an exciting middleweight bout between Christian Leroy Duncan and Claudio Ribeiro. It’s hard not to be a fan of someone as skilled as CLD however his stock slightly dropped after losing to Armen Petrosyan in June of 2023. CLD did bounce back later in the year and finished Denis Tiuliulin by KO/TKO so he is coming into this fight on a positive note. Ribeiro however is returning to action after suffering a brutal head kick knockout loss to Roman Kopylov in July of 2023. I can see Duncan finding Ribeiro’s chin with one of his kicks or coasting to a decision win as long as he stays clear of the heavy handed Ribeiro.
One other notable prelim fight to keep an eye on is the Bantamweight matchup between rising contender Javid Basharat and dangerous striker Aiemann Zahabi. Javid currently has a record of 14-0 and has no plans of losing anytime soon. His top tier grappling along with a decent striking prowess has proven to be a serious issue for other Bantamweights and I believe Zahabi will be met with the same result. As long as Javid avoids danger while striking with Zahabi, it should end up being fairly one sided affair.
Then we move to the main card which kicks off with a flyweight bout between UFC veteran Matt Schnell and budding contender, Steve Erceg. Schnell has been around the UFC for several years and while he did find success early on, the thirty-four year old fighter has certainly regressed as of late. With a questionable chin and issues keeping up with younger opponents, Schnell will struggle to deal with the onslaught from Erceg.
Next we have my personal favorite bantamweight and future title challenger, Umar Nurmagomedov who is facing Bekzat Almakhan. This is a very confusing matchup, primarily due to this being Bekzat’s UFC debut while Umar has already fought much higher ranked competition in his UFC career so far. The Dagestani fighter was originally scheduled to fight Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night: Nashville however suffered a knee injury in training and was forced to pull out. The fact that Umar’s return fight is not only against a less anticipated matchup but also against an unranked debuting fighter truly highlights how difficult it’s been to get fighters to accept matchups against the Dagestani native. While Bekzat is a skilled prospect and has potential to grow, Umar Nurmagomedov is an actual threat to the current champion and I cannot see him losing on Saturday night.
Moving on we get to see the highly anticipated matchup between youthful contender, Muhammad Mokaev & UFC veteran, Alex Perez. Mokaev, boasting a flawless record of 11-0, aims to make quick work or Perez and go on to challenge current flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC301 in Brazil.
Finally we have the Co-main event of the evening- a Light-heavyweight matchup between the power puncher, Tyson Pedro & rising prospect Vitor Petrino. Pedro, training under the City Kickboxing banner, is coming into this fight off his vicious first round KO win against Anton Turkalj last year and is seemingly coming into his own as a fighter. However, his opponent in Vitor Petrino is a terrifying prospect with little to no holes in his game. Petrino is undefeated in his professional MMA career and has shown a wide array of skills in both standup and grappling- proving he is certainly not a one dimensional fighter. I believe Pedro will be extremely dangerous in the first round but will struggle if the fight goes long. I see Petrino using patience and a quality game plan to wear Pedro down before eventually getting the finish.
This week’s Main event is a little puzzling for fans as heavyweight newcomer, Shamil Gaziev takes on Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Gaziev is coming off his UFC debut where he defeated Martin Buday via 2nd TKO. While the Bahrainian powerhouse did look impressive in his previous outing, this next matchup is a massive step up in competition. Clearly the UFC are giving Gaziev a “Sink or Swim” ultimatum by giving him a 5-round main event in just his second fight. While it may be confusing for the MMA fanbase, the UFC might just know something we don’t when it comes to Gaziev’s true ability. Unless Rozenstruik can handle the early onslaught of forward pressure and vicious strikes from Gaziev, I see this fight ending well before the championship rounds. However, I’d be a fool to not at least mention the fact that Rozenstruik is a veteran and has the tools to drag Gaziev into the later rounds- potentially getting a late finish or dominant decision. Either way- we should be in for an afternoon of action packed fights.
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