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Sherdog
Preview: UFC on ABC 7 Prelims
By Tom Feely,
1 day ago
When the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with UFC on ABC 7 this Saturday at Etihad Arena, it will do so with a decent slate of prelims attached. Ranked light heavyweights Azamat Murzakanov and Alonzo Menifield look to make a statement in the featured slot, and there are some interesting prospects further down the card. Recent headliner Shamil Gaziev still qualifies as a heavyweight prospect, as he looks for a bounce-back win against Don’Tale Mayes , and a clash between Guram Kutateladze and Jordan Vucenic pairs off two high-upside lightweights. Everything else is matched for an acceptable level of violence, so this should serve as an entertaining appetizer to a strong main draw.
Now to the preview for the UFC on ABC 7 “Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov” prelims:
Menifield’s last bout didn’t go particularly well, so it’s nice to see him step in for a quick turnaround to try and erase that last impression. A late convert to mixed martial arts, Menifield has always had the physicality to compete at the UFC level, but it was unclear if things would ever coalesce enough for him to charge up the rankings. “Atomic” could hit hard or embrace the grind as needed but never showed enough depth in either area to turn any sort of major corner until his last few fights. After stringing together a few wins that mostly reflected his opponents’ weaknesses, Menifield got a much-needed proof-of-concept victory against Dustin Jacoby in one of his stronger performances. Menifield just stayed patient and cashed in on some striking opportunities, landing hard enough to win rounds with a few big shots in the face of Jacoby’s more consistent output. That showing made his May loss to Carlos Ulberg all the more disappointing, as Menifield charged out in overly aggressive fashion and opened himself up for a knockout in just 12 seconds, erasing a lot of his previous gains. Menifield gets a tough but winnable bounce-back fight here against Murzakanov, who could use this as a major opportunity to re-announce himself. Murzakanov took a particularly long road to his first UFC fight. Initially signed by the promotion in 2017, “The Professional” failed a drug test and wound back on the regionals before getting another contract four years later. Murzakanov’s approach doesn’t look particularly impressive at first, but he has lived up to his undefeated record inside the UFC. Undersized but quick, the Russian fights at a slow pace but lands some dynamic offense with a sharp level of accuracy, either knocking out his opponents or neutralizing them via literally beating them to the punch. Like Menifield, Murzakanov’s breakout win came against Jacoby and in similar fashion, with the K Dojo Warrior Tribe product consistently landing big shots to stay ahead on the scorecards. However, injuries have kept Murzakanov from building on that momentum, as he has been out of action for nearly 16 months. This figures to be fairly even, but Murzakanov’s ability to pick up steam as the fight goes on, along with Menifield’s occasional defensive flammability, gives the Russian the edge. The pick is Murzakanov via third-round knockout.
Yahya made some history in October, fighting on home soil in Abu Dhabi as the UFC’s first Emirati fighter, but nothing went particularly well otherwise in what wound up as a flat promotional debut. Yahya has typically dealt with some thin margins to begin with, fighting with a neutralizing style built around either keeping opponents at range or outwrestling them, but he had little answer for Trevor Peek ’s power and physicality in what wound up as a surprisingly wrestling-heavy fight. Fernandes might wind up as a more forgiving matchup in Yahya’s sophomore trip to the Octagon, though he is an impressive athlete himself, capable of quickly setting a range and scoring some quick finishes. Everything past that has been an issue for the Brazilian, who becomes much less effective over time and once he faces resistance. As such, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise when his UFC debut against Marc Diakiese , who’s nothing if not durable and able to outlast his opponents, eventually went against Fernandes. However, between Fernandes’ hot starts and Yahya likely being willing to give him time and space to work early on, this looks much likelier to be a bounce-back win for the Nova Uniao rep than the hometown favorite. The pick is Fernandes via first-round knockout.
It was worth a shot for the UFC to try and rush Gaziev into a big spot, but having now suffered his first career loss, the Russian gets an interesting bounce-back opportunity. Gaziev was already 30 years old when he started his professional career, but he made up for lost time, rushing his way up the regional ranks and earning a UFC contract within three years. Gaziev looked sharp in all aspects as a knockout threat who could also maul or outgrapple his opponents on the mat as needed, but his career also followed a familiar through-line for heavyweight prospects. Gaziev was an absolute terror but only for about six minutes, as he tended to flag badly once his bouts went a significant length of time. That held true in his UFC debut against Martin Buday , as Gaziev scored the finish just as the fight was about to cross that six-minute mark. With Gaziev knocking out a quite historically durable heavyweight, the call was made to immediately hotshot him into a main event against Jairzinho Rozenstruik . The fight figured to go one of two ways, with Gaziev either scoring a quick finish or falling victim to Rozenstruik’s patient counterstriking, and it went the latter route in about the dullest way possible. Rozenstruik slowly took over the fight until Gaziev was too exhausted to continue. Even so, the UFC’s heavyweight ranks are thin enough that Gaziev still has the time to make a run up the ladder, and Mayes should be a solid next test, if only through sheer durability. Mayes is on the shortlist of most frustrating fighters on the UFC roster, as he’s both massive and athletic but has yet to mold those tools into something particularly dominant. Mayes has done well to overcome the cardio issues that dogged him earlier in his career, but his approach leverages his physical gifts into about the least interesting style possible, focusing on keeping his opponents at bay and outpointing them in a slow-paced kickboxing match. The interesting wrinkle here is that while Mayes has been historically durable, he has also managed to make it nine fights into his UFC career without facing someone with the usual heavyweight one-punch knockout power that Gaziev possesses. As a result, there’s a surprisingly decent shot that the Russian can close the show in short order, and even if he fails to do so, Mayes’ output is so anemic that it also wouldn’t be a shock if Gaziev can outpace the American in a grind even while fighting through complete exhaustion. He might have to hang on for dear life to get this over the finish line, but the pick is Gaziev via decision.
Kutateladze is in an odd spot at the moment. Obviously a top talent to watch, the “Georgian Viking” has struggled to build much momentum in the four years since his extremely impressive debut. Kutateladze stepped in on late notice as the B-side against fellow newcomer Mateusz Gamrot for what wound up as a nip-tuck fight. Kutateladze kept pace with Gamrot’s wrestling-heavy attack every step of the way and got the narrow decision, upsetting the apple cart for one of the UFC’s most-hyped signings of 2020. While Gamrot has rebounded and charged up the ranks as a lightweight contender, Kutateladze has struggled with injuries, only making it to the cage twice since and losing both times out. A narrow decision loss to Damir Ismagulov in 2022 was fine enough given Ismagulov’s status as one of the division’s most underrated technicians at the time, but a defeat to Elves Brener a year ago was much more of a surprise, as the Brazilian’s pairing of offense with his aggression eventually wore Kutateladze out and resulted in a finish. Kutateladze finally makes his return here to try and find a much-needed win against a UFC newcomer in Vucenic, a man the promotion did well to sign as a late-notice replacement. Vucenic has been a standout on the European scene for a few years now, with “The Epidemic” making his hay through pressure and aggression, developing from decision machine to submission threat over the last few years. There’s a decent shot that Vucenic can replicate Brener’s success given his own dogged aggression and historical durability, but the UFC newcomer’s pace reads as closer to Gamrot’s. Add in that Vucenic is fighting on a three-week turnaround and getting a big step up from his last handful of opponents, and the call is that the Georgian can stay ahead in a tough fight. The pick is Kutateladze via decision.
If nothing else, it will be interesting to see Dudakova continue to develop her game. Dudakova was a solid enough flier for the UFC coming off the 2022 edition of Dana White’s Contender Series, but she was raw even by current standards, scoring a handful of wins against overmatched competition. The Russian’s Contender Series victory at least showed a ton of heart—Dudakova scored a wrestling-heavy decision win despite tearing her ACL early in the fight—but that recovery time meant it’d be nearly a year until she returned to competition, and even that fight ended after only 34 seconds due to an injury to her opponent. As a result, the first real high-level fight footage of Dudakova came in her win over Jinh Yu Frey in October, which was promising, even if it was a mixed bag. Dudakova did well to pump out striking volume against an opponent capable of matching her wrestling, but it’s also a low bar to clear the output of a late-career Frey. A weight miss ahead of the Frey fight prompted a move up to flyweight in March that was scrapped due to medical issues, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see Dudakova attempting to make 115 pounds once again for this fight. Hughes was in a similar spot to Dudakova when the UFC picked her up late in 2020. “Sampage” was a bit more focused with her pressure-heavy approach but was generally way out of her depth at the UFC level to start, needing four tries to earn her first UFC win. Since then, Hughes has slotted in as one of the UFC’s top prospect-testers at strawweight. A former track athlete, Hughes is a cardio machine with some deceptive strength but lacks the explosive athleticism to ever be truly dangerous. Hughes can be neutralized by opponents with a clear strength advantage, but it doesn’t seem like Dudakova is quite at that level. Even if she is, Hughes’ relentlessness in terms of pace and pressure figures to be scored favorably on the scorecards if Dudakova attempts to turn this into a pure grind. The pick is Hughes via decision.
It’s a bit of a surprise to see Herbert get passed over for a slot on a card in his native England, but “The Black Country Banger” gets the call a week later for a compelling matchup. Herbert gained some hype on the regional circuit ahead of his UFC debut in 2020 but had a rough transition to taking on better competition. Herbert is a tall and long lightweight who’s typically been a slick and effective striker from range, but his tendency to crash into his opponents and fight in the clinch led him to some losing battles early on. It’s hard to say that Herbert has worked past those issues—particularly after losing an ugly grind of a fight against Fares Ziam in 2023—but he has found his floor on the UFC roster, landing enough sharp offense to stay ahead of the bottom half of the lightweight division. Herbert welcomes Bedoya to the UFC’s 155-pound ranks, as the Peruvian looks to get back in the win column after two losses at welterweight. Bedoya’s main strength thus far in his UFC career has been his durability. He nearly swiped a win from Kalinn Williams in his UFC debut just by absorbing offense and being willing to trade back, though he did tire out while trying the same approach against Kenan Song . Bedoya’s cut down in weight might help him become more of a bully, but it doesn’t seem likely to help him here. The UFC matched him against a large lightweight who still figures to be faster, so even if Bedoya’s usual durability holds up, Herbert figures to drown him in offense. The pick is Herbert via decision.
Dumas was worth the flier when the UFC picked him up off the Contender Series in 2022. “The Reaper” was obviously raw but had enough physical talent and finishing ability that there was the chance that he could develop into something interesting. Dumas hasn’t been a complete bust as a prospect, but it’s also hard to say he has stood out. Beyond constant legal issues outside the cage, Dumas’ UFC career has been a string of unimpressive performances where his most reliable weapon has been a control-heavy wrestling game. After a somewhat controversial loss to Nursulton Ruziboev in March—Dumas was finished shortly after an unrecognized eye poke—he attempts to rebound against Tiuliulin. The 36-year-old Tiuliulin had a middling regional record that suggested he wasn’t UFC-ready when the promotion picked him up early in 2022, but he has mostly lived up to the billing for better or for worse. He’s an exciting fighter who’s seemingly always available to step in on short notice and throw down, even if things tend to go south whenever his opponents can get him to the ground. Dumas should be in for a rough few minutes early on, but his success in the UFC has come against opponents who have questionable gas tanks and make some poor decisions on the mat, so this looks like another fight where the American can coast out a win. Perhaps Dumas turns a corner in terms of finding another level of dominance, but the pick is Dumas via decision.
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