Evgeny Kurdanov vs Julian Lane Prediction: The Sailor's time is gone

BKFC Knucklemania IV, a big bare-knuckle fighting tournament, will take place in the United States on the night of 27-28 April. In one of the fights, Russian fighter Evgeny "The Sailor" Kurdanov will share the ring with American Julian Lane.

Evgeny Kurdanov is one of those who made bare-knuckle fights so popular in Russia and still considers himself the country's most famous fist fighter. We enjoyed watching his adventures in 2020 and the high-profile fights with Machine Gun and Marif Piraev that have become history.

However, as time passed, the fist-fighting industry grew rapidly, unlike "The Sailor." Evgeny performed rarely and eventually left to seek happiness overseas, becoming the first Russian fighter in Bare Knuckle FC. But he lost his debut fight.

Julian Lane is an experienced fist fighter. He has been fighting on bare knuckles since 2017 and has racked up a 5-7 record in this format. But you don't need to focus on the large number of defeats. After all, the Americans' opposition has had quite good opposition—Mike Perry and Thiago Alves, for example. He fought twice in Russia, but both times he lost to Ilnar Ishimbayev and Vladislav Kovalev.

Julian Lane had his last fight in November last year and won in the first round (stoppage by doctor) against Murat Kazgan at BKFC 53.

The Sailor may be getting back to his former form, but we don't have much faith that it will be by this fight. Evgeny had a very long break, and before his last fight, he didn't perform very often—the situation is also influenced by his adaptation in America, where it's quite difficult to set up his life and quality training.

But Julian Lane is in a fighting tone, feels like a fish in water on fists, performs often and quite well, and we do not understand why he is considered an underdog in this confrontation.