Said Nurmagomedov vs Muin Gafurov Prediction: Expecting the Long Bout

On October 21, a major tournament, UFC 294, will be held in Abu Dhabi. The fight Said Nurmagomedov vs Muin Gafurov will open the main card. The bout will take place in the lightest weight division.

Said Nurmagomedov came to the UFC as the WFCA champion, had eight fights in the strongest league, and lost only twice. His last defeat was particularly frustrating - he was at least as good as Jonathan Martinez, but the judges decided otherwise.

In general, Said is a very skilled fighter, without any apparent gaps in his technique, but also championship brilliance like his famous namesake. He will not fall below a certain, rather high level, but he is also unlikely to rise to the top of the rankings.

Gafurov's career is impressive - he's fought in many leagues on both sides of the ocean. But he hasn't faced strong opponents, except John Lineker, whom he crossed paths with in the Asian ONE promotion. In the UFC, Muin has only had one fight so far. He did not fare well, losing to John Castaneda by a decision. Gafurov was good for the first half of the bout but then frankly shrank physically - most likely due to the short notice.

The Tajik has won all but one of his wins early, mostly by striking, but his strongest side is still wrestling.

Bookmakers see Said Nurmagomedov as a pretty decent favorite, but betting on such an outcome is not interesting. Much more interesting is the total over 1.5. It is evident that the fighters will not rush into the attack from the first seconds and will try to understand each other. Besides, none of them has not lost early.