The UFC makes its return to Abu Dhabi for the big UFC 294 pay-per-view event taking place at the Etihad Arena. The card received a serious shake-up in the last week, but now stands with a short-notice lightweight title rematch between current champion Islam Makhachev and featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. The co-main event, meanwhile, features another short-notice matchup as former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman makes his 185-pound debut against the undefeated star Khamzat Chimaev.
With plenty of other great fights on the card, let’s take a look at all of the action taking place this weekend.
UFC 294 Prelim Card
Shara Magomedov and Bruno Silva kick off the action in a middleweight bout. Magomedov is a solid favorite and should remain undefeated.
Viktoriia Dudakov battles Jinh Yu Frey in a women's strawweight tilt. The undefeated Dudakov is the biggest favorite on the prelim card and should continue her winning run.
Featherweight veteran Nathaniel Wood returns to action against Muhammad Naimov. Expect Wood to emerge victorious in this affair and get his 4th Octagon win in a row.
Mike Breeden takes on undefeated Indian Anshul Jubli in a lightweight encounter. Jubli is expected to emerge victorious and maintain his perfect record.
Abu Azaitar battles Sebriques Dumas in a middleweight bout. Expect American Dumas to come out on top in this fight.
Javid Basharat battles Victor Henry in a bantamweight affair. Basharat is undefeated and is expected to keep things that way.
Mohammed Yahya faces Trevor Peek in a lightweight encounter. It should be a competitive affair which Peek should just about edge.
The featured prelim sees flyweight veteran Tim Elliot take on rising star Muhammad Mokaev. Mokaev is undefeated in the UFC and should earn a decisive victory in this contest. But, the American has shown that he can surprise when he went to a decision in his title shot in 2016 in a loss against Demetrious Johnson. This should be a good way to end the prelim card.
UFC 294 Main Card
Nurmagomedov (17-3) vs Gafurov (18-5)
Said Nurmagomedov returns to action when he fights Muin Gafurov in a featherweight contest. Nurmagomedov is coming off a unanimous decision defeat to Jonathan Martinez in March. It snapped a four-fight winning streak for the 31-year-old who also suffered his second defeat in the UFC in the process.
Gafurov, meanwhile, is looking for his first win in the UFC. The former ONE star was outpointed by John Castaneda in his UFC debut back in June. However, he won’t have it easy as the Russian is a solid favorite who should return to the win column in this encounter.
Aliskerov (14-1) vs Alves (15-6)
Ikram Aliskerov was initially set to fight Nassourdine Imavov in a middleweight encounter. However, Imavov had to withdraw for undisclosed reasons. And so, in steps UFC veteran Warlley Alves who has lost his last two fights and four of his last six overall. The Brazilian’s last win came back in January 2021 but it was an impressive one as he TKO'd rising star Mounir Lazzez.
That said, it’s hard to see him returning to winning ways against another prospect. The Russian Sambo fighter got off to a red-hot start in the UFC by knocking out Phil Hawes in his promotional debut in May earlier this year. Overall, the Dagestani has lost just once in his professional career and it was notably a knockout by a certain Khamzat Chimaev back in April 2019. Expect him to continue his current winning run against Alves with a finish.
Ankalaev (18-1-1) vs Walker (21-7)
An intriguing light heavyweight encounter is on the cards as former title challenger Magomed Ankalaev takes on the dynamic Johnny Walker. Ankalaev was expected to become light heavyweight champion when he fought Jan Blachowicz for the vacant title in December. However, the judges ruled it a draw with Jamahal Hill and Glover Teixeira getting the next crack at the belt a month later.
That meant Ankalaev would be on the sidelines and likely requiring a win to get another shot. Victory over the popular Brazilian could certainly be enough. It would extend the Dagestani’s unbeaten run to 11 fights and set him up to face the winner of Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira at UFC 295 next month.
Walker, however, will be looking to prevent this by earning arguably the biggest win of his career. After a sorry run of four defeats in five from 2019 to 2022, Walker has turned things around with a three-fight winning streak with his new team SBG Ireland. That run notably saw victories over Ion Cutelaba, Paul Craig and Anthony Smith. Ankalaev, however, is a much tougher test and a considerable betting favorite. Walker will likely lose, but always a fun play to surprise with an early KO.
Usman (20-3) vs Chimaev (12-0)
This is the fight everyone is excited to see. Out of nowhere, the co-main event was put together as former 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman takes on everyone’s favorite Khamzat Chimaev. Usman is stepping in on short notice after Paulo Costa had to withdraw due to an elbow injury.
It will notably be his middleweight debut as he looks to rebound from back-to-back welterweight title defeats to Leon Edwards, the most recent of which was a majority decision defeat back in March. Prior to those setbacks, “The Nigerian Nightmare” was undefeated in the UFC with a 15-0 promotional record.
The Nigerian Nightmare won’t get an easy task for his 185-pound debut as he faces the undefeated and always exciting Wolf who last competed in September last year when he easily defeated Kevin Holland via first-round submission. Prior to that, he went to war with Gilbert Burns, outpointing the Brazilian over three rounds in what was his toughest fight till date. Chimaev showed he was human in that encounter, but will still go in as a favorite over Usman given the latter’s age, short notice, and current losing streak.
The wrestling changes should be competitive… or will they? Anything can happen, especially in high level MMA, but the smart money is on Chimaev coming out on top with a win likely to set him up for a middleweight title shot.
Makhachev (24-1) vs Volkanovski (26-2)
The headliner sees a lightweight title rematch between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. The Great is stepping in for Charles Oliveira who had to pull out due to a cut suffered in sparring just days ago. The two fought earlier this year in February where a competitive and close contest saw Makhachev earn his first title defense with the help of a unanimous decision verdict.
Many saw Volkanovski deserving of the win. However, it counts as a win for Makhachev who will now look to put aside all the question marks with a definitive victory this time. The Dagestan native hasn’t suffered defeat since October 2015 and has emerged victorious in his last 12 fights.
Volkanovski, meanwhile, bounced back from the defeat to Makhachev with a dominant third-round TKO win over Yair Rodriguez in their featherweight title unification clash in July. The Makhachev defeat aside, “The Great” remains undefeated in the UFC with a perfect 13-0 record at 145 pounds. However, he has a job to do at 155 pounds and given how well he did in the first fight, the odds won’t be so lopsided.
However, Volkanovski is stepping in on 10 days’ notice while Makhachev has been in camp for months. The odds still favor Makhachev and given that he’ll have home-court advantage in Abu Dhabi, it’s hard to see him losing.
