Get the scoop on the early fights from UFC St. Petersburg, featuring a heavyweight clash between Russia’s Shamil Abdurakhimov and top ten ranked Marcin Tybura.
You’ve got to be a wild man to be looking forward to the prelims of UFC St. Petersburg. With several debuting fighters and a slew of names who have little chance of climbing the rankings to any position of note, most would consider the contests to be filler.
Let me get this straight. Your job is to get me excited for these contests, tell me why I should be watching them, and you’re telling me off the bat the early half of the card is crap?
First of all, my job is to tell you what’s up with these fights. If they suck on paper, I’ll let you know. If they look awesome, I’ll notify you of that. Secondly, it isn’t all crap. There is one contest that catches my eye, though I won’t say it’s worth slogging through all the other contests to watch that one. Especially given it’s a heavyweight contest and there isn’t a division more prone to making viewers suffer.
A decent heavyweight contest? Given the shallowness of the division, I’m assuming at least one combatant is ranked if you’re calling it decent.
Right you are. Marcin Tybura was fighting the likes of Fabricio Werdum and Derrick Lewis not that long ago. He fell to both men and was flushed down the rankings after knocking on the door of the top five. The heavyweight striker is an underrated athlete with a solid all-around game. However, his lack of specialization is what cost him against Werdum and Lewis. Regardless, his skill set gives him a very good chance to dispose of Shamil Abdurakhimov, a similar fighter. In fact, much of the narrative regarding Tybura could be said about Abdurakhimov: an underrated athlete with losses to Lewis and Timothy Johnson and a win over Andrei Arlovski on their resume. Yeah… it seemed inevitable they would meet.
So what’s the call?
I wouldn’t make any bets on this contest as it’s incredibly close to call. However, if pressed, I’d favor Tybura as he’s shown a strong chin, a good gas tank, and has a more impressive track record. It isn’t much to go on in terms of separation from Abdurakhimov, but it is the best I’ve got.
I suppose that could be a decent contest. However, you’re saying the rest of the prelims are crap?
You’re going to pin that on me, aren’t you? I’m not going to commit to that, but I will say I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone.
Pansy.
Yeah, whatever. There are too many questions in all the other contests. Perhaps the best example is the case of Alexander Yakovlev facing the debuting Alex da Silva. Yakovlev, owner of a 2-4 UFC record, hasn’t fought in 29 months, long enough that most people believed he was no longer on the UFC roster. Yakovlev is tough and resilient with a long frame for lightweight, but that’s about where the notable positives end. His opponent, da Silva, is a solid striker with a mediocre ground game. Perhaps worse, da Silva’s most notable past opponent appears to be Jacub Kowalewicz. If you’re asking who that is, that’s proving my point exactly.
What you’re getting at is these contests don’t appear to be UFC caliber, whatever that’s worth anymore.
Right you are… for the most part. Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Michal Oleksiejczuk look like they could be mainstays in the shallow light heavyweight division, though they also seem to have some major limitations that will keep them from climbing too high. Nonetheless, the course for victory is clear for each competitor. Antigulov is a hyper-aggressive wrestle-grappler who has left the first round just three times in his 25-fight career with 75% of his wins coming via submission. Oleksiejczuk is uber-durable volume striker with a frame more suited for middleweight. However, the southpaw hasn’t had his takedown defense tested yet. This contest is a coin flip.
What does your coin say?
I’ll get to that later. I gotta keep moving on with the fights. Do you remember Magomed Mustafaev?
It rings a faint bell. Wasn’t he a hot prospect at one point?
Again, right you are. The last time he stepped into the cage was the same card Yakovlev last showed up on. To put in perspective just how hot Mustafaev was, some were surprised when to lost to Kevin Lee on that card. Keep in mind that Lee was fighting for an interim title less than a year after that fight. Mustafaev’s takedown defense was exposed in that contest, though no one is going to expect Rafael Fiziev, his opponent, to take him to the ground. Fiziev has a long list of Muay Thai accolades, but remains untested on the ground. Given Fiziev, like da Silva, hasn’t faced much in terms of quality competition – this is his UFC debut – it seems most likely Mustafaev will attempt to ground out the Kyrgyzstani striker.
What’s left?
There are two other contests, one of them inexplicably the prelim feature bout… if such a thing still exists.
That’s a solid point as they no longer seem to address the final contest on the prelims in that manner. But what makes it inexplicable? Is it a pair of chumps?
Not chumps, simply unproven as Movsar Evloev and Seung Woo Choi are both making their UFC debuts at featherweight. Particularly, Evloev looks like he could be a badass, having defeated several notable names on the Russian circuit, finishing most of them before the time limit. Choi is the more dangerous striker on the feet, doing most of his damage with his kicks. However, his ground game is about as questionable as Fiziev’s. Evloev’s specialty: submission grappling.
You see Evloev getting Choi to the ground for a sub?
That’s the most probable outcome.
And the last contest….
Keita Nakamura and Sultan Aliev. Somehow, 15 years after making his professional debut, Nakamura is still amazingly durable and as savvy as they come. He’s not a great traditional wrestler, but usually finds a way to get an opponent to the ground at least once a contest where he can execute his greatest strength: his grappling. He has been grinded out by larger opponents, which is good news for the methodical Aliev as that’s the only realistic chance he has to win. Aliev doesn’t throw much volume and though he has some pop, it’s hard to see him being the first to stop Nakamura with strikes in over a decade.
I see what you mean. None of these contests really come across as titillating.
That’s what I’m getting at….