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UFC Moscow: Zabit vs Kattar - Nov 9 🇷🇺


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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Back in Russia on Saturday 9th November with this bad boy in Moscow...

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ESPN+ MAIN CARD
Zabit Magomedsharipov vs Calvin Kattar

Alexander Volkov vs Greg Hardy 

Danny Roberts vs Zelim Imadaev

Ed Herman vs Khadis Ibragimov 

Anthony Rocco Martin vs Ramazan Emeev

Klidson Abreu vs Shamil Gamzatov 

 

ESPN+ PRELIMS
Magomed Ankalaev vs Dalcha Lungiambula 

Rustam Khabilov vs Sergey Khandozhko 

Karl Roberson vs Roman Kopylov

Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs David Zawada 

Alexander Yakovlev vs Roosevelt Roberts

Jessica-Rose Clark vs Pannie Kianzad 

Davey Grant vs Grigorii Popov

 

The UFC continues with their streak of really good European cards. I like this a lot. The main and co-main events are going to be well worth tuning in for, for different reasons. And the undercard is rammed with largely unsung Russian beasts in mostly fun stylistic matchups.

 

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Zabit Magomedsharipov vs Calvin Kattar is the new main event. Of course, it was supposed to be Junior Dos Santos vs Alexander Volkov but JDS dropped out with a bad staph infection. So this fight got bumped up from the co-main event. It’s still a 3 rounder though. Regardless, this has all the makings of a tremendous fight. This was originally set to take place on the Boston card in October but got moved here. Zabit has gained a bit of a cult following over his last few fights. There’s something about watching this scarecrow looking fucker throwing spinning shit and tying people up in weird submissions that is so entertaining to watch. He’s 17-1 now and is coming off the biggest win of his career over Jeremy Stephens in March. He’s facing a really tough test in Calvin Kattar though. Kattar doesn’t have the buzz around him that Zabit does but make no mistake he’s legit. He’s 20-3 and has won 12 out of his last 13 fights. He stopped both Ricardo Lamas and Chris Fishgold in a round apiece in his last 2 outings. He looks the business to me. I’d lean slightly towards Zabit winning but he’s definitely got his hands full in this one.

 

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Alexander Volkov vs Greg Hardy fills the co-main spot now. Volkov should walk this. He hasn’t blown me away in his UFC career so far but he did knock out Fabricio Werdum and has a very respectable record of 30-7 with 23 finishes. Hardy is 5-1-1 and already has a loss by DQ due to a blatant illegal knee and a No Contest for using an inhaler between rounds in his last fight. Hits hard but has very questionable conditioning, mentality and already has a knack for attracting controversy. Just like his previous outside the cage. He’s a crappy fighter and a crappier person. There’s no real reason why Volkov should be losing to this twat. Outside of getting caught with a wild haymaker, this should be straight forward for the Russian. He’s more experienced, he’s bigger, a better striker, a better all around MMA fighter, it’s his fight to lose. I’m hoping Volkov proper chins him so we can end this nonsense and Hardy settles in to his real level, going 50/50 with fat ham and eggers on the Fight Pass prelims. 

 

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Danny Roberts vs Zelim Imadaev is a fight you should probably check out. Roberts is British, 16-5 and was most recently seen on the wrong end of Michel Pereira’s highlight reel UFC debut in May. He’s had his moments but he’s lost decisively every time he’s stepped up to that next level. Usually entertaining to watch though, win or lose. Imadaev is yet another young Russian prospect. The influx of Russian standouts over the last couple of years has been really noticeable. They’ve been coming through in Bellator for a bit but it seems like the scene has really exploded now, particularly since the rise of Khabib. Anyway, Imadaev is just 24 years old and he’s 8-1 with 8 knockouts. 

 

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Ed Herman vs Khadis Ibragimov will most likely be an enjoyable fight for however long it lasts. Was supposed to be Herman vs Gadzhimurad Antigulov but Antigulov dropped out. So in steps another tough Russian. Herman stopped Patrick Cummins in his last fight in May. His first win in over 3 years. He’s got to be one of the longest serving fighters on the roster now, hasn’t he? From TUF 3 to now - straight through, without being sacked and brought back - 13 years and 23 fights. He’s 38 years old now and probably doesn’t have long left in the sport but it’s mad to think how long he’s been at it. Ibragimov is a weathered looking 24 years old and has a record of 8-1 with 5 finishes. Suffered his first defeat in his UFC debut on the China show in August. 

 

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Anthony Rocco Martin vs Ramazan Emeev is an OK fight. Martin lost to Demian Maia in his last fight but was on a pretty strong 4 fight win streak before that. And Emeev is 18-3 and coming off 7 wins in a row. Another Russian to keep a look out for. 

 

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Klidson Abreu vs Shamil Gamzatov is a fight between two guys I’m not exactly familiar with. I’ve seen Abreu before. He’s primarily a grappler. He’s 15-3 with 14 finishes, 10 by submission. He has a 2015 submission victory of Johnny Walker on his record. Gamzatov is making his debut here. He’s 13-0 with 10 finishes and has most recently fought in the PFL (formerly WSOF) and ACB.

 

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Magomed Ankalaev vs Dalcha Lungiambula is ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH***, could be a wild one. Ankalaev is 12-1 with 6 knockouts. The only loss on his record is a submission to Paul Craig in literally the last second, 4:59 of the third round, of a fight Ankalaev was winning. So if he’d managed to hang on one more second in that fight, he’d still be undefeated now. Lungiambula is from South Africa and is 10-1 with 6 finishes. He won his UFC debut in June by knockout. Got a feeling this is going to be just a full-on collision.

 

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Rustam Khabilov vs Sergey Khandozhko is a fight I don’t really know what to think about. On paper it sounds good but I just don’t know where Khabilov is at these days. At one time he was looking like a real breakout contender and a serious potential problem for a lot of guys. But his career has been so stop-start and he’s had so many layoffs. He’s 23-4 currently, coming off a points loss to Carlos Diego Ferreira in February. Before that he was on a run of 6 consecutive wins. Khandozhko looks decent from bits I’ve seen. He’s 26-5-1 with 17 finishes. Won his UFC debut on the Sweden card in June.

 

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Karl Roberson vs Roman Kopylov could be a good ‘un. Roberson is 8-2 in MMA with wins in the UFC over Jack Marshman and Darren Stewart. He’s also a former Kickboxer and went the distance with Jerome Le Banner in 2015. Granted, Le Banner was way past his prime by then but still a legend and Roberson took him to the judges. Kopylov sounds like one to watch though. He’s unbeaten at 8-0 with 7 knockouts, won multiple titles in Combat Sambo, was the ACB Middleweight champ and won his last fight with a body shot. He was meant to debut on the Russia card in April but had to pull out with an injury. Hopefully we get to see him this time.

 

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Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs David Zawada. This’ll be my introduction to both of these guys. Abubakar is Khabib’s cousin. He’s 29 years old from Dagestan with a 15-2-1 record and is a Russian national Combat Sambo champion. Zawada is German, 16-5 with 14 finishes. Nicknamed ‘Sagat’ for some reason. Looks nothing like him. No eye patch, fuck all. Maybe he fights like him. 

 

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Alexander Yakovlev vs Roosevelt Roberts is good undercard filler. Yakovlev has been around a bit. He’s 35 now and 24-8-1. He’s gone the distance with Kamaru Usman and Demian Maia and has wins over Paul Daley and Gray Maynard. He’s not elite at the UFC level but he’s a good technical fighter. Roberts has stepped in on short notice to replace an injured Vinc Pichel. I like what I’ve seen of Roberts. He’s 25 years old, 8-1 record. Funnily enough he suffered his first loss against Pichel last time out. Now he’s replacing him. Decent fight. 

 

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Jessica-Rose Clark vs Pannie Kianzad should be a lively one. Clark has been out with a knee injury and hasn’t fought since June 2018. Quite enjoyed her fights from what I remember. She has UFC wins over Paige VanZant and Bec Rawlings. Kianzad is Iranian, 11-5, former TUFer, former Cage Warriors champ. This is actually a rematch. They met in 2015 on an Invicta card and Kianzad won on points.

 

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Davey Grant vs Grigorii Popov, don’t really know what to make of this. Grant was on the Rousey vs Tate season of TUF back in 2013 and was fairly popular coming off the show as I recall. Seemed a really good guy. Sadly he suffered injury upon injury after the show and has only fought 3 times since, going 1-2. And again here, he’s coming into this fight off a 16 month lay-off. It just hasn’t panned out for him at all. Popov is 13-2 and has won titles in a few smaller promotions. He got TKO’d by Eddie Wineland in his Octagon debut at UFC 238 in June. It’s one of those who the fuck knows fights but I’d like to see Grant win. Poor prick must be due some good fortune.

 

UFC Moscow. 
 

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Edited by wandshogun09
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Big Francis is looking for another scalp to out on his mantle while he waits for DC and Stipe to play itself out then. Imagine being Volkov, preparing for JDS, and on less than three weeks notice, you get lumped with the prospect of Francis Ngannou trying to punch you upside your dome. I wouldn't blame Volkov if his first thought was 'anybody else not doing anything that day?'

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Just now, David said:

As much as I dislike Hardy as a person, if he wins this fight he has to be taken seriously. 

Even I can’t disagree with that. And that was my argument. If they’re going to insist on giving him the big push and hyping him up, his opposition should tally with that. Anyone who beats Volkov is legit. The man knocked out Fabricio Werdum, for fuck’s sake. But I’ll be surprised if Volkov doesn’t batter him. 

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5 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

But I’ll be surprised if Volkov doesn’t batter him.

Yeah, I don't see Hardy as anything other than a mid-tier, athletic heavyweight who hits relatively hard. It just depends if the UFC keep him around if he loses to a top ten fighter. They must be paying him quite well.

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Yeah, they’re probably just thinking it’s time shit or get off the pot now. They seemed quite keen to protect him with carefully picked opponents up to now. But maybe that inhaler bollocks and the negative reaction he’s got over the last few days has just made the UFC brass think ‘Fuck it.’ If he wins they get to say ‘we told you he was special’ and if he loses maybe they just cut their losses and either bin him altogether or at least demote him down to Fight Pass Curtainjerksville. 

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The difference in ability between a fighter like Sosoli and one like Volkov, may as well be as different as Barbados and Belfast. If Volkov doesn't do something stupid, like standing stationary for the first sixty seconds of the fight, he should wreck Hardy. 

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i cant recall another leap up in class like that in recent memory, if it wasnt for getting clipped in a fight he was comfortably winning against Lewis, Volkov could realistically have fought for the belt by now. Gonna be a lot of folk rooting for Volkov that night.

Edited by Egg Shen
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Upon checking Volkov's recent fights, I am not convinced that he is all that. 

- He went life and death with Timothy Johnson - a mid-tier heavyweight. In fact, almost every media member felt that Johnson should have got the nod from the judges. 

- He then beat Roy Nelson via decision. Nelson had lost 4 of his last 6 fights before fighting Volkov, and would go on to lose 3 out of his next 4. Volkov subsequently had a competitive fight with Struve, with both winning a round each, before he rallied in the mid-stages of the 3rd round to force the stoppage. 

- He stopped Werdum in round 4, while trailing 2 rounds to 1. Nevertheless, this was the best performance of his career. He did some impressive stuff in this fight. 

- He dominated Derrick Lewis before getting caught very late on. Lewis is, let's be honest, a very limited fighter. 

So while Volkov is trending upwards in his most recent fights, despite the blip in the Lewis fight, his record over the past 3 years isn't anything overly special. Heavyweight is a bit of a crapshoot, where one exchange oftentimes turns the fight on its head. If Struve, Lewis and Tim Johnson can have success against Volkov - and in some cases find a way to outperform/beat him - then is feasible that Hardy can also clip him. Hardy certainly has the power to do so. Nevertheless, Volkov should win this fight. The early betting lines are generous towards Hardy - who is a slight underdog with some bookmakers. 

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Hardy clearly has the power to hurt anyone, but if he tries to stay on the outside and fight Volkov like he did Meng the other night hes gonna get eaten alive. Hardy's only chance here is to roll the dice in round 1 and try getting Volkov out of there.

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