Sean Strickland vs. Abus Magomedov: UFC Fight Night Odds, Prediction
The main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas comes from the middleweight division as No. 7 ranked contender Sean Strickland prepares to face unranked Abus Magomedov.
Strickland is a -150 favourite to win on the MMA odds, while Magomedov is a +120 underdog.
Sean Strickland UFC Fight Night Odds
Strickland has compiled a 26-5 record since his professional MMA debut in 2008. The 32-year-old American started his career 15-0 and is a former King of the Cage middleweight champion. He debuted in the UFC in 2014, putting together a 13-5 record in the Octagon.
Strickland suffered a run of bad luck when he missed two full years recovering from injuries suffered in a 2018 motorcycle accident. He returned better than ever, however, as he won his next five fights. Coming into this week’s event, he has dropped two of his last three fights, including his last two middleweight bouts.
“Tarzan” has 12 career wins via decision, 10 via knockout and four via submission. Saturday will mark a return to middleweight for Strickland as his last fight in January was a unanimous decision victory over Nassourdine Imavov in the light heavyweight division. Saturday will be the fourth time Strickland has headlined a UFC Fight Night event.
Strickland averages 5.76 significant strikes landed per minute with 41 per cent accuracy. He also averages 1.04 takedowns per 15 minutes with 64 per cent takedown accuracy and 85 per cent defence.
This is a big moment for Strickland. He’s one of the only top-10 stalwarts in the middleweight division that hasn’t been given a shot to face middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, so a win would do a lot to move him closer to a title shot.
Abus Magomedov UFC Fight Night Odds
Magomedov is 25-4-1 in a professional MMA career that dates back to 2010. The 32-year-old Russian-German is a dominating 12-1-1 over his last 14 fights, with 10 finishes. He has 14 career wins via knockout, six via submission and five via decision.
Like his opponent, Magomedov has also had a run of bad luck over the last few years. He’s had five fights cancelled for various reasons since 2021 and as a result he has only fought once in the UFC. Still, it was a dominating performance that lasted just 19 seconds. Magomedov earned a first-round knockout victory over Dustin Stoltzfus last September.
Because he’s fought for less than 20 total seconds in the UFC, there’s not much to draw on from Magomedov’s stats other than his two-inch reach advantage. This is a statement fight for Magomedov. Regardless of how he wins the fight, if Magomedov takes out a big name like Strickland, he will automatically vault himself into the conversation as a legit contender in the middleweight division.
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Magomedov Prediction
This is a tough one to call because there’s not a lot of tape on Magomedov. He has the potential to be a dangerous middleweight, but until he proves himself against a legit top-10 contender, it’s hard to justify backing him. Strickland wins by decision.