Men’s bantamweight remains the UFC’s most loaded division, as this
is yet another in a seemingly weekly parade of fights between
underrated competitors looking to carve out a niche. Nurmagomedov
is not related to Khabib
Nurmagomedov, and as Dagestanis go, his style is much more in
the mold of Zabit
Magomedsharipov than any of the former lightweight champion’s
kin. A tall and rangy bantamweight, Nurmagomedov would rather keep
his opponents at bay with an impressively quick and sharp kicking
game. That has been enough to quickly take out his less durable
competition, though Nurmagomedov has still shown an ability to hold
his own on the mat. His January bout against Cody
Stamann saw the American get in on a takedown attempt but fall
victim to a guillotine choke in just 47 seconds. The occasional
opponent has been able to pressure and clip Nurmagomedov at times,
but thus far, Raoni
Barcelos is the only one to turn that into enough sustained
success for a victory. That figures to be the blueprint for
Kakhramonov. Uzbekistan’s Kakhramonov has an approach built around
pressure above all else, and he has impressed thus far in his two
UFC fights to date. His late-notice debut against Trevin
Jones was relatively even until a third-round finish, but he
followed it with a dominant victory over Ronnie
Lawrence in July. Kakhramonov’s aggression comes at the expense
of his defense, even if he has typically been able to eat whatever
offense comes his way and keep charging forward. As far as this
fight is concerned, he should throw enough wild offense to catch
Nurmagomedov off-guard a few times, but it is hard not to see the
Russian making up the difference as Kakhramonov continues to charge
into some precise offense. If nothing else, this should be all
action. The pick is Nurmagomedov via decision.
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