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UFC Fight Night hits the arena at the Etihad Arena in the UAE, with fights starting at 3 PM ET today. Catch several highly anticipated matchups, including a bantamweight bout and two middleweight bouts, with the final battle of the night featuring Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder.
Check out my selections for three of today’s main card fights and decide for yourself whether they’re something you want to back or ignore!
The first main card middleweight bout finds Russia’s Shara Magomedov (15-1-0) in the octagon against Canada’s Marc-Andre Barriault (17-9-0, 1 NC). Magomedov stands just 1” taller at 6’2”, while Barriault has a slight 1” arm and leg reach advantage. The Russian comes to the arena off his only career UFC loss, while the Canadian enters fresh off a win, making for an interesting matchup.
Overall, neither fighter prefers to win by submission, as Magomedov has won 80% of his fights by knockout or technical knockout, compared to Barriault’s 65%. Barriault’s average fight time is slightly shorter, at about 3:45, quicker than the Russian’s. Barriault showcases 6.02 significant strikes landed per minute (47%) while absorbing 5.57 per minute, versus Magomedov’s 5.87 landed per minute (62%) with 4.13 absorbed per minute, so I predict the Russian to record higher than 65.5 significant strikes by the end of tonight.
The lead-up to the main fight of the night features a classic bantamweight bout between #3-ranked Russian fighter Petr Yan (18-5-0) and #12 American fighter Marcus McGhee (10-1-0). Both of them take to the octagon off recent victories, and McGhee will take the 1” height advantage at 5’8” and a 2” arm reach advantage as we head into the matchup.
A huge difference between the two fighters is that Yan has won 56% of his bouts by decision versus McGhees 10%, while McGhee has won a whopping 80% of his fights by KO/TKO compared to Yan’s 39%. This means Yan’s fight time averages nearly double the length of Marcus McGhee’s fights. The Russian may have longer fights under his belt, but McGhee averages 6.06 significant strikes landed per minute (48%) versus Yan’s 5.11 (54%), leading me to believe he’ll connect with at least 72.5 significant strikes tonight. While Yan has only won 6% of his fights by submission, the fighter averages 1.61 takedowns per 15 minutes (49%), although he boasts a 100% takedown defense.
For today’s highly sought-after main event, we see #5 Australian Robert Whittaker (27-8-0) take on #13 Dutch fighter Reinier de Ridder (20-2-0). Despite Whittaker coming in off a recent loss in his last bout, he enters as a slight favorite. Reinier de Ridder comes in off a fresh victory, standing at 4” taller than his opponent at 6’4” with a significant 4.5” arm reach advantage.
While de Ridder has only won 25% of his fights by KO/TKO compared to Whittaker’s 41%, the Dutchman has a clear advantage in submissions, winning 65% of his fights as such versus the Australian’s 19%. Whittaker, on the other hand, has won 41% of his bouts by decision, leading de Ridder’s fight time to be nearly half as short in length. Whittaker takes the advantage in significant strikes, landing 4.54 per minute (43%) against Reinier de Ridder’s 3.25 per minute (60%), so he will likely record 59+ significant strikes. The Dutchman has the advantage when it comes to grappling, though, averaging an incredible 4.74 takedowns per 15 minutes (38%), which may be good enough to challenge Whittaker’s 81% takedown defense.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.