Brendan Miller
Khamzat Chimaev’s departure from UFC Fight Night on Saturday is a huge blow, but there are still things to look forward to. Robert Whittaker x Ikram Aliskerov headlines the event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a solid undercard.
The UFC’s 2024 matchmaking model appears to be organized into three tiers: pay-per-views, traveling Fight Nights and Fight Nights at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Look at this weekend’s card and it is significantly stacked compared to last week’s show headlined by Alex Perez vs. Tatsuro Taira.
Several UFC-ranked fighters will be featured on Saturday, including former title challengers Sergei Pavlovich, Kelvin Gastelum and Volkan Oezdemir. Riyadh also hosts several dynamic fighters, such as fan favorite Jonny Walker.
Check out three fights below that are worth watching outside of Saturday’s main fight.
Sergei Pavlovich x Alexander Volkov
This heavyweight fight has title implications. Pavlovich is an ultra-power hitter who is coming off a loss to Tom Aspinall for the interim UFC heavyweight title in November. The knockout artist is looking to bounce back after having a six-fight knockout streak in the first round. Former Bellator heavyweight champion Volkov hasn’t looked this sharp since a 4-0 UFC start was capped by Derrick Lewis’ legendary knockout in 2018. Volkov looks to tie his best UFC winning streak after stoppage wins in his last three fights. The winner could be just one more fight away from a heavyweight title shot.
Sharabutdin Magomedov x Joilton Lutterbach
There are many eyes on Magomedov, better known to UFC fans as “Shara Bullet”. The Russian fighter debuted at UFC 294 in October with a decision victory over Bruno Silva. It was a rare decision victory for Magomedov, but he defeated the nine-fight UFC veteran and nearly doubled his strike total. “Shara Bullet” can build on her rapidly growing legend with an impressive show against last-minute replacement Joilton Lutterbach. The Brazilian fighter is a veteran with 47 fights and four consecutive victories. Lutterbach, a Professional Fighters League alumnus, even fought current UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in a losing effort in 2019. Saturday could showcase Magomedov’s 83% knockout rate against a very experienced opponent.
Johnny Walker x Volkan Oezdemir
If Walker is on the card, he will likely be in this column. After years of wasted potential, the light heavyweight contender has seemed to turn a corner in the last two. Back-to-back wins over Anthony Smith, Paul Craig and Ion Cutelaba set him up for big things, but a knockout loss to Magomed Ankalev was a huge setback. Walker – who has 16 KOs in 21 wins – fights fellow KO artist Oezdemir. There has been a knockout drought in recent UFC events, but this fight could help fill the well.
Honorable mentions: Kelvin Gastelum x Daniel Rodriguez, Magomed Gadzhiyasulov x Brendson Ribeiro
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