This Saturday night the UFC is back in action as the number two ranked Bantamweight Petr Yan takes on the number three ranked Merab Dvalishivili in the main event of this week's fight night. The rest of the card is pretty exciting as well for a fight night. The co-main event will be the fourteenth-ranked Heavyweight Alexandr Romanov vs the eighth-ranked Heavyweight Alexander Volkov. Being that sixth-ranked Light Heavyweight Nikita Krylov had food poisoning the day of the fight two weeks ago when he was supposed to main event against eighth-ranked Ryan Spann, the UFC allowed them to have their bout this weekend. Said Nurmagomedov will fight Jonathan Martinez as well in a Bantamweight bout. Said isn't the only Nurmagomedov on the card, Abubakar Nurmagomedov will fight Carlston Harris in a Welterweight bout.
The Nurmagomedov family has been slowly creeping into every weight class since Khabib left his mark on the UFC. Most of his cousins have looked very good. Said is one of those cousins. Said is the 14th-ranked Bantamweight and is on a five-fight win streak. Said is looking to improve to a six-fight win streak. Said Nurgamedov (-245) vs Jonathan Martinez (+205) is the line for Saturday. Martinez is on a four-fight win streak himself with his last win being against Cub Swanson. Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs Carlston Harris is currently not on the DraftKings book, yet on the UFC website, Harris is favored. I don't remember the last time I've seen someone with the last name Nurmagomedov as an underdog. Abubakar definitely has had his struggles in the UFC, losing his first bout in 2019 via submission. He has only fought twice since and won in decision both times. We'll see how he fairs against Carlston Harris.
The odds for Ryan Spann (+145) vs Nikita Krylov (-170) haven't changed from when they were supposed to main event two weeks ago. This is going to be a catchweight bout now, but I imagine will still count toward the Light Heavyweight rankings. Spann has not had a fight exit the first round in five fights. Two out of three of Krylov's last three fights have ended in the first round. I'm not saying it'll end in the first, but there's no way it's going to a decision.
There's no chance the co-main goes the distance either. Both Alexandr Romanov (-150) and Alexander Volkov (+130) have only had two decisions in their last two fights. Both fought Marcin Tyburia who has won his last three fights via decision. Romanov has proven he can finish you with his striking or submit you. Volkov on the other hand has been on an up-and-down rollercoaster. I like Romanov winning via knockout or submission.
Now for the main event, Petr Yan (-255) vs Merab Dvalishvili (+215) is going to be one for the ages. Yan vs Merab has sneaky fight-of-the-year potential in my opinion. Surprisingly, Merab is such a heavy underdog as well. Yes, Yan should be favored, yet Yan is on a two-fight losing streak and Merab is on an eight-fight win streak and should realistically be fighting for the title, but won't because Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling is his best friend. Merab and Yan can both grapple with the best of them, this one should come down to who's the better striker. As of now, Yan is believed to be the better striker for sure, but Merab knows how to win via decision and lately Yan does not.
So are you picking Merab? That’s who I am picking. Let me know.