Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back inside the friendly confines of UFC Apex later TONIGHT (Sat., July 1, 2023) to stage UFC Vegas 76 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Headlining the ESPN/ESPN+-streamed event will be a Middleweight bout between the always-loquacious Sean Strickland, taking on Abus Magomedov. Co-headlining the card will be a Lightweight tilt between Grant Dawson and Damir Ismagulov.
What’s Hot:
Strickland avoided catastrophe by managing to get back on track in his previous bout against Nassourdine Imavov, escaping a potential three-fight losing streak. Currently ranked No. 7 in the Middleweight division, Strickland is still lurking around the cream of the crop (believe it or not) and a couple of wins could get him into the Top 5 by 2024. Three of if his five losses under the UFC banner came against former champions and ex-title contenders, so it says a lot about his skill level.
Strickland’s next challenge, however, was a bit odd at first glance. That’s because Abus Magomedov only has one fight inside the Octagon — a 19-second knockout win over Dustin Stoltzfus — in Sept. 2022. He is on a three-fight win streak, though two of those came on the regional circuit. During his time with Professional Fighters League (PFL) he racked up a 3-1-1 record. His lone loss in the last seven years is a 33-second knockout loss at the hands of Louis Taylor. All that said, you’d figure the promotion would have given Strickland a ranked opponent as opposed to someone who has a long way before he gets into the rankings. So, it’s kind of a high-risk, low-reward fight for the mouthy Middleweight. For Magomedov, he has the chance to pull off a big win that could expedite his process to the Top 15, while a loss really won’t have that big of an effect on him, to be honest.
What’s Not:
Grant Dawson is 10-0-1 in his last 11 fights, so I would have liked to see him get paired up against a fighter on a similar run. That’s not to say his opponent, Damir Ismagulov, isn’t talented because he is, and winning 19 of his last 20 fights proves that. Still, he is coming off a loss to Arman Tsarukyan so that rubs me the wrong way a bit. The co-main event fight should be entertaining, but that’s not the point here.
Original Card Vs. Actual Card:
Macy Chiasson pulled out of her scheduled bout against Yana Santos and was replaced by Karol Rosa, who is coming off a loss to Norma Dumont. Rosa is just 1-2 in her last three fights, so she needs a big win here to gain some momentum. As for Santos, she is coming off back-to-back losses against Irene Aldana and Holly Holm, so she is in a must-win situation. With Amanda Nunes retiring, the promotion has yet to make a decision on whether or not it will keep the women’s Featherweight division afloat, so this could possibly be one of the last fights in the division before every fighter starts moving down to Bantamweight, potentially.
Injuries:
Vinc Pichel suffered an undisclosed injury and was forced out of his fight against Benoit Saint-Denis and was replaced by Ismael Bonfim. Clayton Carpenter and Stephen Erceg were expected to throw down on this card before Carpenter pulled out due to an undisclosed injury. As a result, Erceg faced David Dvorak at UFC 289, defeating him via unanimous decision.
New Blood:
Nursulton Ruziboev agreed to step in to fill the void left behind by Abdul Razak Alhassan after he was forced out of his fight against Brunno Ferreira. Ruziboev is currently on an eight-fight win streak. More impressively, “Black” has won all of those fights in the first round, five via knockout with three submissions. As for Ferreira, he comes in undefeated (10-0), which includes a successful UFC debut against Gregory Rodrigues, which he won via first round knockout earlier this year.
Ivana Petrovic made her professional debut just two years ago, but in that time she has racked up a 6-0 record with five finishes. The 29 year-old Flyweight is out to make an immediate statement in her first fight against Luana Carolina, who has had a mediocre run thus far under the UFC umbrella. She is 3-3 with the promotion and is currently on a two-fight losing streak.
Westin Wilson brings his three-fight win streak with him to the UFC cage to face off against Joanderson Brito, winner of two straight. Wilson has finished every single one of his opponents, scoring 11 submissions and five knockouts along the way (13 in the first round). That means that Wilson is all gas with no brakes, which could lead to a rough night for Brito.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
We’ve discussed several undercard fights already, so let’s take a look at the rest of the preliminary action, shall we.
Guram Kutateladze and Elves Brenner will tango in a Lightweight scrap. Kutateladze had his nine-fight win streak snapped in his previous bout by Damir Ismagulov, though it was via razor-thin split decision. He has a chance to get back into the win column against Brener, owner of three straight wins, which includes a successful UFC debut after defeating Zubaira Tukhugov four months ago.
Kevin Lee will make his return to the Octagon after taking just one fight out of the promotion, a win over Diego Sanchez under the Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC) banner. Now, I get that “The Motown Phenom” left the promotion on a two-fight losing streak, but he is still a colorful character, so burying him on the undercard was a bit surprising.
Nevertheless, Lee will look to make a statement in his first fight back under the bright lights of UFC when he battles Rinat Fakhretdinov, a streaking Welterweight on a 19-fight win streak who is 2-0 inside the Octagon. The matchmaking here is just a bit mind-boggling.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
With a 3-4 record inside the Octagon, Blagoy Ivanov’s stint with the promotion has been less than stellar. He is just 1-3 in his last four fights and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Marcin Tybura. He is up against a mountain of a man in Alexandr Romanov, who isn’t exactly lighting it up in the win column, either. Romanov is currently riding a two-fight losing streak and was last seen getting knocked out by Alexander Volkov earlier this year (see it here). The loser of this fight could very well get his walking papers.
Interest Level: 5/10
In the Welterweight division, Max Griffin will face Michael Morales, who is on a hot run by starting his career off with 14 straight wins, which includes winning his first two fights inside the Octagon. He has an 85-percent finish rate so the man gets down to business from the jump. Griffin is all go, as well, and is 4-1 in his last five UFC fights. This should be a barn-burner and an early contender to win a post-fight bonus award.
In the women’s Flyweight division, Melissa Gatto will battle Ariane Lipski, who is coming off a win over J.J. Aldrich. Still, Lipski is only 2-3 in her last five fights so she needs to get a bit more consistent with the wins. As for Gatto, she suffered the first loss of her professional career in her previous bout against Tracy Cortez.
Ismael Bonfim and Benoit Saint-Denis will collide in a 155-pound bout. Bonfim is currently riding a 13-fight win streak. He made a statement in his UFC debut by icing Terrance McKinney with a spectacular flying knee knockout (see it again here). Saint-Denis, meanwhile, is 10-1 overall and is coming off his own impressive knockout win over Gabriel Miranda (highlights).
Full UFC Vegas 76 Fight Card:
UFC Vegas 76 Main Event On ESPN/ESPN+:
185 lbs.: Sean Strickland vs. Abus Magomedov
UFC Vegas 76 Main Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):
155 lbs.: Grant Dawson vs. Damir Ismagulov
170 lbs.: Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales
125 lbs.: Melissa Gatto vs. Ariane Lipski
155 lbs.: Ismael Bonfim vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
185 lbs.: Brunno Ferreira vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
UFC Vegas 76 Prelims Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Kevin Lee vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
145 lbs.: Joanderson Brito vs. Westin Wilson
135 lbs.: Karol Rosa vs. Yana Santos
155 lbs.: Elves Brener vs. Guram Kutateladze
125 lbs.: Luana Carolina vs. Ivana Petrovic
265 lbs.: Blagoy Ivanov vs. Alexandr Romanov
*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 76 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 76 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Strickland vs. Magomedov” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ line up click here.