The MMA Daily

We have a scrap in the Middleweight division, as Dustin Stoltzfus takes on debutant Abusupiyan Magomedov. Halting a three-fight losing streak and extending his UFC tenure, Stoltzfus returns to the octagon looking to make it two-straight. In short order no less, as Stoltzfus last fought less than two months ago. Meanwhile, Magomedov will finally make his long awaited debut. Signing with the promotion in 2021, Magomedov has seen two withdrawals as the culprit for the delay. Nearly two years since his last fight now, it should be interesting to see if the layoff impacts Magomedov.

An intriguing fight and tough one to call, as Stoltzfus comes into this fight with renewed confidence and Magomedov has been on the shelf for some time. Since signing with the promotion in 2020, Stoltzfus has been fed to the wolves. Fighting three talented grapplers, Stoltzfus found himself outmatched. However, given a fourth crack to make things right, Stoltzfus prevailed. With durability, grappling and submission abilities, Stoltzfus can be problematic against those who aren’t adept on the ground. On the feet, Stoltzfus lacks the power and quite frankly has been less than elusive. Which gives an edge to Magomedov, who unlike those whom he shares a name with, is a striker and not particularly a grappler. Speaking about the namesake, last year, a Reddit contributor named CheeseAndMoney pointed out that every fighter in the UFC with Magomed in their name, has a 84% win percentage inside the octagon. A truly remarkable feat, even with the contribution from Khabib Nurmagomedov.

As for a prediction, it’s hard to go against statistics. It’s even harder to go against the fact that Magomedov is the better and more dangerous striker. However, given the layoff and the appearance of a potential crack in his chin, I’m going on a whim and siding with Stoltzfus. Who may be at a disadvantage and isn’t known for power, but he showed that he’s willing to let it rip inside the pocket with Grant. Given his durability and ground game to fall back on, I don’t see Stoltzfus as being as big of a underdog as he is. So with that said, I predict that Stoltzfus wins via TKO.