Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is bringing more “Prelims” fights to ESPN+ this weekend (Sat., March 2, 2024) when UFC Vegas 87: “Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev” returns to UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. MMAmania.com’s Patrick Stumberg kicks off the UFC Vegas 87 “Prelims” party with the first installment of a two-part undercard preview series below.
After a two-week tour of North America, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to its APEX venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, this weekend (Sat., March 2, 2024) for UFC Vegas 87, which was originally planned for the ill-fated Saudi Arabia debut. The ESPN+-streamed main event pits rising Heavyweight, Shamil Gaziev, against veteran finisher, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, while unbeaten Light Heavyweight, Vitor Petrino, looks for his third consecutive win at Tyson Pedro’s expense.
An assortment of injuries have whittled UFC Vegas 87’s “Prelims” undercard down to five at time of writing. Let’s checkout the first three …
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185 lbs.: Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Claudio Ribeiro
Christian Leroy Duncan (9-1) knocked out Djati Melan with flying knees to claim Cage Warriors gold in April 2022, then dispatched Marian Dimitrov via spinning elbow in his inaugural defense. Though he had to settle for an injury stoppage and decision loss in his first two Octagon bouts, he returned to his highlight-reel ways by torching late replacement Denis Tiuliulin last time out.
He sports a one-inch height advantage and a two-inch reach advantage.
Claudio Ribeiro (11-4) — the former Thunder Fight and Future MMA Middleweight champion — needed just 25 seconds to flatten Ivan Valenzuela on Contender Series and punch his ticket to the Octagon. He’s currently 1-2 in his UFC tenure, a beatdown of Joseph Holmes sandwiched between knockout losses to Abdul Razak Alhassan and Roman Kopylov.
Nine of his 11 knockouts have come in the first round.
Duncan’s loss to Armen Petrosyan showed the lack of depth in his standup. When his speed and unpredictability aren’t enough to overwhelm opponents, he doesn’t have a technical base to fall back on. That would have cost him in a planned matchup against Cesar Almeida, but his dynamism was enough to beat Tiuliulin and it’s enough to beat Ribeiro.
All Ribeiro has going for him in this matchup is raw power — he’s out-classed in virtually every other aspect. Getting out-struck by a monster like Kopylov is one thing, but getting battered by Alhassan is a serious red flag. By all accounts, Duncan’s too fast, mobile and too powerful for Ribeiro to deal with. Unless Duncan telegraphs a flying/spinning technique and runs face-first into a counter, he out-classes Ribeiro en route to a violent finish.
Prediction: Duncan via second round technical knockout
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135 lbs.: Vinicius Oliveira vs. Yanis Ghemmouri
Vinicius Oliveira (19-3) lost both a six-fight win streak and the UAE Warriors title when unbeaten Ali Taleb out-slugged him in one of 2022’s more underrated fights of the year. After getting back on track with a first-round knockout of his own, “Lok Dog” took his talents to Contender Series, where a nasty left hook flattened Victor Madrigal and earned Oliveira a UFC contract.
He’s ended 17 professional fights inside the distance, 15 of them via knockout.
Yanis Ghemmouri (12-2) rode a nine-fight win streak into his UFC debut, which initially pitted him against Team Kaobon hopeful, Caolan Loughran. After some last-minute shuffling, “The Desert Warrior” instead took on countryman William Gomis, who stopped Ghemmouri via questionable body kick midway through the third round.
He matches Oliveira’s height at 5’9,” but gives up one inch of reach.
The good news for Ghemmouri is that Oliveira is a fair bit less elusive than Gomis, who’s happy to circle along the fence and fire kicks all night if he can get away with it. The bad news is that Oliveira won’t need an uncalled low blow to put Ghemmouri down for the count. Ghemmouri is vulnerable to low kicks and often fails to move his head, which are two of the worst traits to have when facing “Lok Dog.”
Oliveira’s got some bad habits of his own — namely his tendency to over-swing — but his strengths mesh better with Ghemmouri’s weaknesses than vice-versa. In the end, he chews up Ghemmouri’s lead leg before taking his head off with a straight right.
Prediction: de Oliveira via first round knockout
155 lbs.: Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Loik Radzhabov
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (15-3) claimed Fury FC’s Lightweight title by cruising past Michael Murphy in his third bout with the promotion, but entered Contender Series as a sizeable underdog against Cage Warriors champion, George Hardiwch. Undaunted, “The Pride of Palestine” turned in a career-best performance to win both a unanimous decision and a UFC contract.
He’s knocked out five professional foes and submitted three others.
After a strong run in Professional Fighters League (PFL) and submission over Zach Zane in his PFL debut, Loik Radzhabov (17-5-1) made his first Octagon walk in March 2023, defeating Esteban Ribovics for his fourth win in five bouts. His sophomore effort against Mateusz Rebecki proved more disastrous, missing weight en route to a second round technical knockout loss.
He’ll enjoy a four-inch height advantage.
Al-Selwady isn’t as aggressively awful a matchup for Radzhabov as Rebecki was, but he’s not far behind. The footwork and sharpshooting he showed against Hardwick should work a treat against the lumbering “Tajik Tank,” as should the inside low kicks he’s so fond of. Even if Radzhabov does manage to close the distance and tie up, Al-Selwady’s wrestling looks up to the task of keeping it where he wants it.
Unless Al-Selwady’s takedown defense turns out to be exponentially worse than his takedown offense, he has everything he needs to out-class Radzhabov on the feet and shut down any attempts to take it south. In short, he runs circles around Radzhabov for a dominant decision win.
Prediction: Al-Selwady via unanimous decision
Two more UFC Vegas 87 “Prelims” undercard bouts remain to preview and predict, including the latest from undefeated Bantamweight, Javid Basharat. Same time tomorrow, Maniacs.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 87 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 4 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 87: “Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.