In Saturday’s headliner, Sean Strickland will take on Abus Magomedov in the middleweight division in what is Strickland’s fourth fight in a little over a year. His last two fights have gone the distance, winning a unanimous decision victory over Nassourdine Imavov in his last outing, which followed a defeat against top middleweight contender Jared Cannonier. Strickland has gained a reputation of willingness to fight anyone, anywhere, and tonight’s opponent, Magomedov, has an impressive four victories in his last five fights.
It’s been an unfortunate few years for Magomedov as he’s only managed to compete once in the previous eighteen months before tonight’s UFC Apex event. He has been scheduled to fight Makhmud Muradov, Gerald Meerschaert, and Aliaskhab Khizriev since 2021; all have been canceled. The inactivity may be a factor in Strickland being listed as the -145 favorite, and it will be interesting to see how he can deal with the relentless pressure expected to come from the American.
A gung-ho approach from Strickland may be a little risky, as he discovered against Alex Pereira at UFC 276 last July. Although he’s somewhat of a submission specialist, Magomedov won via knockout in his last fight against Dustin Stoltzfus in less than twenty seconds and isn’t shy to stand and trade. Magomedov’s experience could be a factor in this fight playing out the whole five rounds as he’s fought people with Strickland’s fighting style before. Don’t be surprised if Magomedov tries to take the fight to the ground, as he has a history of ending fights via a guillotine.
During the build-up to this weekend’s card, we have seen the usual controversy stemming from both Strickland’s comments to the media and on his socials. During the pre-fight media scrum, he told Oscar Willis of The Mac Life that he believes that we (society) made a mistake by giving women the freedom to vote and that he thinks we should take women out of the workforce. Likely, he didn’t mean these comments as controversial statements are now to be expected from Strickland, but they certainly rub people up the wrong way, which is probably his intention.
Ariane Lipski vs. Melissa Gatto
Ariane Lipski will be looking to build on her impressive win against MMA veteran JJ Aldrich earlier this year against Melissa Gatto in the flyweight division. Lipski entered the UFC on the back of a lot of hype due to her record in KSW. Her well-rounded fighting style earned her victories in various ways, but her first couple of fights in the UFC didn’t go her way.
Decision defeats to Joanne Calderwood and Molly McCann put a dent in her plans to rise to the top of the division quickly. She goes into tonight as the underdog; however, three of her five defeats in the UFC have been from big-name opponents; the ”Queen of Violence” is certainly not one to be overlooked.
Her opponent, Melissa Gatto, has made significant improvements in the striking department, having previously been known solely for her ground game, with four of her first six MMA wins as a result of a variety of different submissions. Since entering the UFC, both of her victories have come by TKO, so it’s going to be interesting to see what her game plan will be against Lipski. Gatto has only lost once in her eleven professional fights, which is a reason why the bookmakers have her as the favorite.
Damir Ismagulov vs. Grant Dawson
The #12 ranked Ismagulov will be looking to break into the top ten with a win over the #15 Dawson in what could be a fight likely to involve multiple grappling exchanges. All six of Ismagulov’s fights in the UFC have gone the distance, and this can be largely attributed to his patience and confidence in outscoring his opponents.
The experienced Ismagulov has an impressive 24-2 record and has lost just once in eight years, most recently against Arman Tsarukyan in his last fight. He’s never been stopped in his career, but that could all change against Dawson, who has 19 wins, 17 of which have come via stoppage.
Like Gatto, Dawson has developed his striking game recently, having previously on a wrestling-heavy approach. It fared well in the past, but the step-up in the competition left him hanging on in fights that went the distance. Half of his eight fights in the UFC have been victories via a rear-naked choke, so expect him to try and land a submission. Ismagulov opens as the slight favorite in this one, but it’s almost too close to call.
Elsewhere on the main card, Max Griffin takes on the unbeaten Michael Morales in the Welterweight division, and Ismael Bonfim will be looking to get his twentieth MMA win with a victory over fellow lightweight Benoit Saint-Denis. UFC Vegas 76 gets underway on ESPN+ on Saturday, July 1.
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