UFC 308’s first fight of the prelims, after the early prelims are over, is a banger between Germany’s Abusipuyan Magomedov and Brazil’s Brunno ‘Hulk’ Ferreira.
Abusipuyan is a tall, long striker with power who uses rangy tools, particularly a good front kick, to control distance and do damage.
He has been often mocked since his fight with Sean Strickland, but it is no fault of his own that the UFC put him in a main event in his second fight with them, a spot he clearly was not ready for as he fell apart in the second round.
Speaking of falling apart, Brunno Ferreira has never been more than six minutes and eight seconds into a fight, win or lose. How will he fare if he cannot put Abus away in the first or even second round?
The four-inch height and six-inch reach disadvantage does not bode well for ‘Hulk.’ Ferreira is a straightforward fighter, one who wades into the pocket with big hooks, relying on his aggression and power to get the job done.
Against a fighter who maximizes his length advantage and who has ever gone down to exhaustion — and that only at a point in a fight three minutes longer than Ferreira’s longest outing — I have a hard time picking Brunno.
Abus Magomedov lost to far superior competition than Ferreira, losing only to now-top contenders Strickland and Caio Borralho, and while Brunno does have the best win of the two in Gregory Rodrigues, ‘Robocop’ is exactly the type of fighter to fall prey to his style. Abus is not.
Their only opponent in common, German-born Dustin Stoltzfus, fell in just seconds against the German immigrant by way of Dagestan in Abus’ UFC debut. MMA math does not work, but it is worth noting that Ferreira had a competitive first round with Dustin before catching him with a hook and ending it.
Additionally, ‘Hulk’ has proven to have only middling takedown defense, being taken down by Stolzfus and Nursulton Ruziboev. Although he got back up from under them, that is one more area where Magomedov has at least a slight advantage. He is not primarily a wrestler, but he showcased his Dagestani heritage in his last fight, particularly, by taking down veteran Warlley Alves six of seven times en route to his second UFC win.
My pick is Abusipuyan Magomedov by TKO in the third round. His long tools, kicks to the body, and superior positioning leave me confident in Abus to get the job done. His 2-2 UFC record does not tell the full story, and he may be underrated by fans and oddsmakers (he is only a -150 favorite at present).
They do not see, perhaps, a man who lost on the regional scene when he was young, who worked his way to the PFL and a championship final where he lost. They do not see a fighter who has 33 pro fights of experience but has lost to no one except for to Strickland, Borralho, and the underrated Louis Taylor since 2015.
Do I think Abus. at age 34, is going to develop into a UFC title contender like Strickland and Borralho? No, but I believe he is capable of making a run at the lower end of the UFC middleweight rankings, of beating some good fighters in the future..
I also believe Ferriera is more of an action fighter than a good fighter; he is more likely to surprise by having the cardio to last fifteen hard minutes than he is to surprise by actually winning.
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