UFC Abu Dhabi: Five Things We Learned

UFC Abu Dhabi: Five Things We Learned

UFC Abu Dhabi had a lot of important fights. The fight night was filled with highly-ranked fighters, prospects, fresh faces, and a legend. Let’s recap UFC Abu Dhabi and discuss the biggest lessons we learned from these fighters.

Umar Nurmagomedov earns his spot in the bantamweight elite

In the UFC Abu Dhabi main event, Umar Nurmagomedov defeated Cory Sandhagen. The performance vaulted Nurmagomedov from an elite prospect to a future title contender .

Nurmagomedov was forced to fight through some adversity in this fight. Sandhagen showed some strong defensive grappling. Nurmagomedov struggled to land takedowns and get to dominant positions. Despite having less grappling success than anticipated, Nurmagomedov showed solid striking skills. This is the best he looked on the feet by a fairly wide margin. That is partially because Sandhagen fought quite cautiously. This was likely because of Nurmagomedov’s grappling threat. Regardless, Nurmagomedov showed strong offensive tools.

It should also be noted that Nurmagomedov passed the cardio test. In his first main event, his stamina held up throughout a high-paced five-round fight.

In all honestly, Nurmagomedov did not deserve a number-one contender bout; however, it does not matter once he picks up an impressive win over Sandhagen. That earns him massive opportunities.

Deiveson Figueiredo is making a run at bantamweight

At UFC Abu Dhabi, Deiveson Figueiredo picked up a decision win against Marlon Vera. The victory was his third consecutive win since moving up to bantamweight. The former flyweight champion has put himself in a great position.

This was a strong performance from Figueiredo. Vera is a tough opponent, but Figueiredo found a path to victory. In the first round, he got the fight to the ground and got some control time. That stole him the first round. In an action-packed third round, he landed a big shot that dropped Vera. That in itself is impressive considering Vera has never been dropped in his entire career. On top of that, Figueiredo picked up the aggressiveness and landed a lot of big strikes. That was enough to win two of three rounds and be crowned the victor.

Figueiredo’s bantamweight run deserves a lot of respect. In his flyweight prime, he leveraged his physicality, power, and submissions to pick up wins. Now, he is grappling with a higher emphasis on control and being safer in striking exchanges. It is a pair of smart adjustments that has prepared him for the higher-weight class.

Tony Ferguson retires (kind of but not really)

At UFC Abu Dhabi, Tony Ferguson lost his eighth consecutive fight. The fight was not very competitive either. Michael Chiesa managed to swiftly outgrapple him.

In the aftermath of the fight, it appeared like Ferguson was retiring. Although, it did not take long to realize it was the UFC saying goodbye to Ferguson. The promotion went through the highs and lows of Ferguson’s career and saw enough after eight straight losses. It is impossible to blame the promotion for pulling the plug. Unfortunately, Ferguson has not had enough and will probably find a lower-level organization to compete in.

Joel Alvarez has a career-best performance

At UFC Abu Dhabi promising young lightweights Joel Alvarez and Elves Brener shared the octagon. It did not end up being the exciting scrap that many expected. Instead, Alvarez won a one-sided victory and put on the best performance of his career.

Alvarez used his six-foot-three frame and 77-inch reach to dismantle Brener from the outside. It felt like Alvarez was the fighter controlling the exchanges. Brener spent the majority of the fighter backed up while Alvarez unloaded with his hands. On the inside, Alvarez landed some strong knees. It was a dominant performance regardless of where the fight went.

It looked like everything clicked for Alvarez in this fight. It will be important to keep an eye on him in the future to see if that level of performance will continue.

Jordan Vucenic will be a welcome addition to the UFC

One of the most underrated stories before UFC Abu Dhabi was Jordan Vucenic’s UFC debut. Vucenic was a fan-favorite in Cage Warriors and was a part of some of the promotion’s biggest fights of this decade. That makes him someone that needs to be on everyone’s radar now that he is in the UFC.

Vucenic was unable to get the win at UFC Abu Dhabi. I would not cast him to the side, however. This fight was a short-notice fight up a weight class against a quality opponent. It was also a very close fight that Vucenic had success in.

At his natural weight class, Vucenic will be a fun addition to the roster. Will he break into the rankings? Maybe. Maybe not. Still, he will put on fun fights in a loaded weight class.

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