The UFC will kick off the Fourth of July weekend with a bang. The two co-main events are nothing short of spectacular, with two lightweights looking to inch closer to the top 10 and one sixth-ranked middleweight trying to prove he deserves a shot at the top.
Sean Strickland vs. Abus Magomedov
Sixth-ranked Sean Strickland takes on Abus Magomedov in the middleweight main event. Strickland is looking to get over the hump of being just out of reach for a title shot. Magomedov has finished 20 out of his 25 wins by knockout or submission, including a 19-second Performance of the Night knockout in his UFC debut last September. This fight will be a huge jump in competition for Magomedov.
Strickland is 2-2 in his last four. After a solid win against Jack Hermansson, he took on Alex Pereira and got knocked out by an early left hook. Pereira went on to defeat Israel Adesanya to become the middleweight champion before losing it in the rematch with Adesanya. Strickland then took on #4 Jared Cannonier and lost by a very controversial split decision. With two straight losses to top-five opponents, Strickland had to bounce back with a big win. He took on rising star Nassourdine Imavov, stopping the hype train in its tracks.
Magomedov has a solid PFL resume but has never fought the caliber of Strickland. As much as his outstanding knockout performance nine months ago was impressive, it did not show much to see whether or not Magomedov is ready to be in the octagon with contenders. Expect Strickland to out-strike Magomedov, eventually teaching the former PFL star the caliber of class a contender in the UFC has. A Strickland win should make him one win away from a title shot in the wide-open middleweight division.
Big Crowd at 155
Damir Ismagulov and Grant Dawson will have a lot to prove if they are to crack the top 10 of the over-crowded lightweight contenders. The 155-pounders come in with only a handful of losses between them. Ismagulov has already passed a test, losing a competitive fight to ninth-ranked Arman Tsarukyan this past December. This one will be slightly different as he faces Dawson, who is a submission specialist. Dawson is on a 10-fight win streak and is 19-1-1 overall. His only loss was in 2016. He has not faced anyone inside the top 20 in his career as of yet, but this will be his 10th bout in the UFC. There is a reason why he is currently ranked 14th and knocking on the top-ten door. There are some lingering concerns with Ismagulov, as he announced retirement in January, before ultimately coming out of retirement one month later. He has recently said he is back in a new state of mind now, looking to become champion at lightweight. Ismagulov will hope to keep the fight on the feet. Dawson has superior grappling skills and will most likely have Ismagulov on his back. Ismagulov’s striking is way too crisp, however, and it will be too much for Dawson to handle. Look for Ismagulov to jab his way to a unanimous decision victory.
This May Just Go the Distance
Another main card fight that will be interesting is young knockout specialist Michael Morales taking on veteran Max Griffin. We have seen it before when age takes on beauty. The 14-0 Morales will have a tough time against the 19-9 Griffin, who has only been finished once in his career. Morales will have to go into deep waters to take out a fighter like Griffin. The hopes of landing that early knockout seem unlikely, so Morales will need to stand in there and take a hit to give a hit. He will gain plenty of experience in this fight. Look for Morales to squeeze by Griffin and get the win by decision.
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