Fight Night Fridays with Tha Dogg Strickland vs. Magomedov

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UFC Fight Night on ESPN 48: Strickland vs. Magomedov

UFC APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada

July 1, 2023

All betting odds are from Caesars Sportsbook

Please bet responsibly and within your means.

Fight Card

Prelims

Welterweight: 19-7 American Kevin Lee vs 20-1 Russian Rinat Fakhretdinov

Eagle FC vet and former UFC contender Kevin Lee takes (+170) on 31 year old Russian phenom Rinat Fakhretdinov (-200). Kevin had a promising UFC career, starting 9-2 but was 5-2 in his last 7 finishing his first stint in the UFC. Lee did beat Diego Sanchez in his lone Eagle FC match in March of 2022 . The UFC re-signed Lee in February of this year. His Opponent Rinat Fakhretdinov is 20-1 overall and on a 19 fight win streak. Fakhretdinov is 2-0 in the UFC with two decision victories in his two UFC fights. Fakhretdinov does not go the distance very often though, 17-0 in fights that have been stopped both KO and submission. Should be a good one

Main Card

Middleweight: 10-0 Brazilian Brunno “The Hulk” Ferreira Vs 34-8-2 2NC Uzbek Nursulton Ruziboev

30 year old Brunno Ferreira (-230) takes on 29 year old Nursulton Ruziboev (+190) making his UFC debut. Brunno is undefeated in MMA and has submitted all of his opponents, winning his UFC debut in January of this year with a first round KO. Brunno does not lack grappling either with three submissions all in the first round. Nursulton on the other hand is a grappler with twenty submission wins but doesn’t lack for power with twelve TKOs, He’s on an 8 fight win streak with finishes all within the first round. This should be fireworks to open the main card of Saturday's fight.

Lightweight: 19-3 Brazilian Ismael Bonfim Vs 10-1 Frenchman Benoit St. Denis

Ismael Bonfim (-320), who beat Terrance McKinney with a flying knee in the second round of his UFC debut, stands opposite Benoit St. Denis (+250) who is 2-1 in UFC bouts. Ismael is 27 and has had trouble defending the choke with all three of his losses ending with him tapping. Benoit has not gone the distance in any of his wins, with two knockouts and eight submissions. His lone loss is a unanimous decision loss in his UFC Debut.

Women’s Flyweight: 15-8 Brazilian Ariane Lipski Vs 8-1-2 Brazilian Melissa Gatto

Ariane Lipski (+190) is 4-5 in UFC bouts while Melissa Gatto is 2-1 (-230) Ariane at 29 is two years senior her octagon partner has maybe lost her chin losing three of her last five to TKO, Melissa has been showing more power since signing with the UFC with both of her KOs coming since joining the promotion, besides losing her first fight in her last match in March earlier this year, she could be a force to be reckoned with in the UFC for years to come.

Welterweight: 19-9 American Max Griffin Vs 14-0 Ecuadorian Michael Morales

Max Griffin (+205) is 7-7 in UFC bouts while Micheal Morales (-250) is favored to stay undefeated, only 2-0 in UFC bouts Micheal has two TKO victories with hit punches and at only 23 years old this is a rising star for the country of Ecuador. Griffin at 37 could be looking at retirement soon, and with his last three fights going to the cards it seems he has lost some of the punching power that made him a force early in his UFC career.

Lightweight: 24-2 Russian #12 Damir Ismagulov Vs 19-1-1 American #15 Grant Dawson

Damir Ismagulov (-115) faces Grant Dawson (-105) in the co-main event of the evening. With a razor thin betting line Vegas doesn’t even know who is going to win this one. Damir is 5-1 in the UFC with his first loss came to last Fight Night Fridays “Lock” Armen Tsarkyan, other than that Damir has shown promise but with only decision wins he shows a lack of an ability to finish his opponents. Grant is 7-0-1 in the UFC with a majority draw and has no problem finishing opponents with his last two wins coming by submission in the third round. With both of these fighters not having the heaviest of hands, and Grant outlasting his opponents before showing his grappling skills, I expect this fight to go into the late rounds.

Middleweight: 26-5 American #7 Sean Strickland Vs 24-4-1 German Abusupiyan Magomedov

For the main event we have title contender Sean Strickland (-150) taking on unranked Abusupiyan Magomedov (+125). Both fighters being 32 the difference is in the UFC resumes, Sean being 13-5 in the promotion and Abusupiyan winning his UFC debut last year in September. Abusupiyan had an impressive 19 second knockout against Dustin Stolzfus. Sean is an UFC veteran with his only losses coming from absolute animals; Kamaru Usman, Alex Pereira and most recently Jared Cannonier. With big power in both corners this should be an exciting fight to end the night.

Card Expectations:

Great lineup for a non-Pay Per View card, with up and coming prospects and talented veterans. My lock of the night is definitely Micheal Morales (-250) this kid has superstar potential.

Enjoy the card and drink responsibly.

Have a great 4th of July!