Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Magomedov

Main Event: Sean Strickland vs. Abus Magomedov

Location: UFC APEX — Las Vegas, NV

Where to Watch: ESPN / ESPN+

Other Main Card Matches:

• • Damir Ismagulov vs. Grant Dawson
  • Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales
  • Ariane Lipski vs. Melissa Gatto
  • Ismael Bonfim vs. Benoit Saint Denis
  • Brunno Ferreira vs. Nursulton Ruziboev

Prelim Matches:

• • Kevin Lee vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
  • Joanderson Brito vs. Westin Wilson
  • Yana Santos vs. Karol Rosa
  • Guram Kutateladze vs. Elves Brener
  • Ivana Petrovic vs. Luana Carolina
  • Alexandr Romanov vs. Blagoy Ivanov

Main Event: Sean Strickland vs. Abus Magomedov

Middleweights occupy the top of the marquee as Top 10 stalwart Sean Strickland faces off with Russian-German veteran Abus Magomedov.

You know exactly what you’re going to get from Strickland each and every time he steps into the Octagon: forward pressure, lots of volume, a little in-fight smack talk, and toughness for days. He won five straight after returning from a two-year hiatus following a grizzly motorcycle accident and rebounded from a split decision loss to Jared Cannonier in the final fight of 2022 by beating Nassourdine Imavov on short notice in the first main event of 2023.

Magomedov is the polar opposite for UFC fans — an unheralded up and comer with just a single appearance on the biggest stage in the sport. But the 32-year-old dispatched Dustin Stoltzfus in 19 seconds in his debut and is an impressive 12-1-1 over his last 14 fights, with 10 finishes.

FREE FIGHTS: Strickland vs Imavov | Magomedov vs Stoltzfus

These are the kinds of matchups that genuinely make sense at middleweight — instant tests against established competitors that have either failed to reach the top of the division or have already been turned back by the champion — and we’re seeing another one later in the month with Paulo Costa taking on Ikram Aliskerov.

Strickland is already on the short list of possible contenders because he’s one of the few names in the Top 10 that has yet to face champ Israel Adesanya; if he picks up another win here, he strengthens his case. If Magomedov goes out and beats him — either emphatically or by the skin of his teeth — he immediately establishes himself as a serious person of interest at the top the middleweight division.

Other Main Card Fights

Damir Ismagulov vs. Grant Dawson

Damir Ismagulov and Grant Dawson face off in the co-main event, meeting in what should be a competitive and instructive battle in the lightweight division.

Ismagulov is a 32-year-old Russian with a stellar 24-2 record that includes UFC victories over Joel Alvarez, Thiago Moises, and Guram Kutateladze. His only loss in the last seven years came last time out against Arman Tsarukyan, a bona fide Top 10 talent and the ascending boogeyman of the lightweight division.

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Dawson has also done a ton of great work in the shadows and relative silence, compiling a 7-0-1 record in eight UFC starts since claiming a contract on the opening season of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). A brawny Midwest kid with strong grappling and a solid understanding of how to play to his strengths inside the Octagon, Dawson has shown clear and obvious improvements since relocating to South Florida and training at American Top Team.

This is an outstanding battle of fighters currently stationed in the lower third of the Top 15. Each is capable of beating the other handily and working their way forward in the division, but pairing them together makes that challenge more daunting. Everything hinges on who is able to dictate the terms of engagement, and how each deals with the best weapons the other brings to the table on Saturday night.

Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales

This is a classic “veteran versus prospect” pairing in the welterweight division, as Max Griffin shares the Octagon with Michael Morales.

Despite being 37 years old and well over a decade deep into his career, Griffin has never looked better. He enters this weekend’s main card assignment off a victory over Tim Means, and has won four of his last five, with the only setback coming by split decision in an impossibly close fight with Neil Magny in March 2022.

READ: Max Griffin Wants to Teach Morales A Lesson

A member of the DWCS Class of ’21, Morales posted stoppage wins over Trevin Giles and Adam Fugitt to begin his UFC tenure, extending his record to 14-0 in the process. Tall, rangy, and with good power for the division, the 23-year-old from Ecuador, who trains at the Entram Gym in Tijuana, is one of the better prospects on the roster, and projects to be a future factor in the 170-pound weight class.

This pairing is designed to determine how close we are to that future, as Morales has passed his first two tests with flying colors, and now steps in against a dangerous, savvy veteran in the midst of a very good run of results. Griffin has no interest in being a steppingstone, so it’ll be interesting to see how things play out once they get in there and get after it this weekend.

Ariane Lipski vs. Melissa Gatto

Ariane Lipski looks to build on a strong outing, while Melissa Gatto aims to rebound from her first professional loss in this crucial flyweight pairing.

After four years of inconsistency produced a 3-5 record inside the Octagon, Lipski turned in her most complete and impressive performance to date in March, stepping out and piecing up JJ Aldrich en route to a unanimous decision win. Still only 29, the former KSW boss can start making real headway in the 125-pound ranks if she can parlay her first appearance of the year into another positive result in her second outing of 2023.

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Gatto earned stoppage wins over Victoria Leonardo and Sijara Eubanks in her first two UFC bouts to elevate her record to 8-0-2, which landed her opposite Tracy Cortez at UFC 274 last May. The Brazilian struggled to deal with the wrestling and top pressure of the Arizona native, spending long stretches pinned to the fence or the canvas, resulting in her unbeaten run coming to a halt.

Lipski and Gatto cross paths here at a critical time for each athlete: the former needs to show her win over Aldrich and form in that fight wasn’t a one-off, while the latter is out to prove she’s better than her most recent performance. Both like to throw, and each has flashed some confidence on the ground (at least from top position), so this should be a competitive back-and-forth wherever it takes place, for as long as it lasts.

Ismael Bonfim vs. Benoit Saint Denis

Middleweights close out the main card and middleweights open the main card as well, as sophomore Brunno Ferreira welcomes freshman Nursulton Ruziboev to the Octagon for the first time.

Ferreira tagged in on short notice for Brad Tavares opposite Gregory Rodrigues at UFC 283 and promptly put “Robocop” to sleep with a perfect counter left towards the end of the opening stanza. It was the fourth straight first-round finish for the undefeated “Hulk,” who has yet to venture beyond the 68-second mark of the second round in his career.

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Training with the Philly crew that includes Sean Brady, Joe Pyfer, and Pat Sabatini, the 29-year-old Ruziboev arrives in the UFC with bushels of experience, but few bouts against names that ring out for anyone beyond the hardest of hardcore fans. “Black” has won eight straight overall and 10 of his last 11, with all of those victories coming inside the distance.

Individually, neither man has any interest in asking the judges to sort out who won the fight, so putting them together should, in theory, produce an action-packed main card opener on Saturday.

Prelim Fights

Kevin Lee vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov

Kevin Lee makes his return to the UFC in the night’s final preliminary card bout, facing off with Rinat Fakhretdinov in an intriguing welterweight clash. Lee always hovered around contention, but struggled to find consistency, going 2-5 over his last seven fights before a one-fight absence from the Octagon. Fakhretdinov debuted earlier this year with a one-sided decision win over Bryan Battle and will look to catapult himself into the greater MMA consciousness by turning back Lee on Saturday.

Joanderson Brito vs. Westin Wilson

Yana Santos and Karol Rosa never crossed paths as bantamweights, meeting here in the featherweight division instead. Santos returned from maternity leave in March, dropping a unanimous decision to Holly Holm, moving her to 4-4 in the UFC. Rosa ventured to the 145-pound ranks for the first time earlier this year, losing a decision to Norma Dumont.

Guram Kutateladze vs. Elves Brener

Guram Kutateladze tags in to face off with Elves Brener in this intriguing lightweight pairing. “The Georgian Viking” missed out on the chance to face Jamie Mullarkey last month due to visa issues, but jumped at the chance to replace Jordan Leavitt here. Brener landed on the happy side of a split decision verdict in his promotional debut, edging out Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC 284.

Ivana Petrovic vs. Luana Carolina

Promotional newcomer Ivana Petrovic looks to continue her unbeaten ways as she steps into the Octagon for the first time in a matchup against Brazilian veteran Luana Carolina. Sporting a 6-0 record with five finishes, the Ares FC champ Petrovic is another promising young talent to watch in the flyweight ranks. Carolina is a notoriously tough out, but comes into this one on a two-fight slide, having dropped back-to-back fights in London to Molly McCann and Joanne Wood.

Alexandr Romanov vs. Blagoy Ivanov

The two men stationed at Nos. 14 and 15 in the heavyweight rankings kick off the show on Saturday, as Alexandr Romanov meets Blagoy Ivanov in this clash of European powerhouses. Romanov has dropped two straight since pushing his record to 16-0 with victories in each of his first five UFC appearances, most recently getting stopped in March by Alexander Volkov. Ivanov ended a two-year absence last May, besting Marcos Rogerio de Lima on the scorecards, but landed on the wrong side of the results in his meeting with Marcin Tybura in February.