There ain’t no party like a prelim party ‘cuz a prelim party don’t
stop…ever…not with 14 fights on the billing. Bantamweights are on
deck, with two athletes possessing exactly one decision on each of
their records. Almakhan (12-2, 1-1 UFC) has plenty of experience
beyond the 14 pro MMA fights on his ledger, with a slew of
appearances on the MMA-adjacent Zhekpe Zhek sport in his home
country of Kazakhstan. Georgia’s Topuria (6-1, 1-0 UFC) has far
fewer matches to his credit, but he bears the name of the 155-pound
champion as his elder brother. All eyes are on him now to keep
representing the family name. Referee Marc Goddard draws the charge
for what should be an action-packed affair, and the athletes touch
‘em up. Topuria moves right to the center of the cage and sticks out a jab,
and Almakhan counters him right off the bat with a right hand.
Almakhan backs up Topuria with a right hand, and resets. Topuria
jabs at the chest a few times, and Almakhan’s swings are far
heavier but less accurate. The jabs of “El Conquistador” have
marked up Almakhan’s nose, who chambers and fires off a right hand
to counter a low kick and sends Topuria somersaulting backwards.
Topuria springs back to his feet no worse for wear and goes back to
walking down the man from Kazakhstan. Topuria steps on Almakhan’s
foot to get in a jab, and Almakhan wrenches it out and escapes. A
low kick from Almakhan chops Topuria down, who has to spin around
on his knee to get back upright. Almakhan drives a knee through the
guard to the dome, and Topuria takes it and then absorbs a thudding
calf kick. Almakhan strings a few punches together and slips to the side, and
he rams his knee into Topuria’s side for good measure. Topuria’s
own offense is little more than solid jabs, while Almakhan is
putting a great deal into his fists. Topuria tries to score a
heavier right hand, and Almakhan escapes it, clinches at the right
time and pops Topuria with a few short punches. Almakhan hits a hip
toss, and Topuria rolls through it to establish top position.
Almakhan’s strikes off his back include a few to the back of the
head, and Topuria elbows his way into full mount. Almakhan
scrambles and briefly gives up his back, but he manages to keep
twisting and turning to escape the clutches of his adversary and
stand back to his feet. Topuria greets him with a strong jab and
takes a few punches on the inside, and he gives a knee back. The
two trade hard punches, with Topuria chasing Almakhan down around
the cage. Topuria does some damage to Almakhan’s upper right cheek,
and he aims at it with his sharp jab. Topuria lands at the end of a
one-two, making up plenty of ground as the round concludes. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Almakhan Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Topuria Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Topuria

The fighters pick up where they left off, with Topuria going
straight towards his opponent. Almakhan strafes to the side and
then plants his feet to fire. The moment he does, Topuria shoots in
on his hips and completes a double-leg takedown. Almakhan plants
off his right hand to push off and hope to stand, only for Topuria
to wrench him flat to the mat. Topuria looks for some
high-amplitude ground strikes, and Almakhan times a moment to push
off the chest with his foot to get some space. Almakhan bursts back
to his feet, and he has a one-two flying the second he finds a way
in. Topuria ignores it and a subsequent left hand to keep crowding
his man, forcing him to constantly fight off his back foot as he
flashes jab after jab. He swats out a left hand that appears to
swipe Almakhan in the eye, and he apologizes with the foul going
uncalled. Almakhan nods and then takes a moment before opening up
with a clubbing right hand that makes Topuria take a funny
step. When Topuria stands tall again, Almakhan kicks his leg out once
more, and Topuria nearly turns all the way about before reeling and
coming back around. Almakhan’s face is wearing it after the jabs
from Topuria find their home, his nose bloody from both nostrils as
his shiner around his eye grows larger. Topuria tries for a
takedown, and Almakhan stands him up and grazes the top of his head
with a spinning back elbow when escaping. He lets fly a low kick
and just misses with a spinning back fist, and Topuria shrugs it
off and loads up with a strong right hand. He catches Almakhan with
his right, and his subsequent jab cause more blood to flow. Topuria
overswings and crashes into the cage, and he raises his guard in
the nick of time to defend against a head kick. Almakhan’s swings
go wide as he tries to keep Topuria off of him, and he dings his
foe twice behind the ear before the round wraps. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Topuria Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Topuria Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Topuria

The bantamweight sluggers high-five after engaging in 10 minutes of
face punching, and proceed to punch one another in the face.
Almakhan loads up on power shots, and Topuria slips most of them
and jabs him square in the beak. Topuria does not flinch at what
Almakhan throws at him, and he ducks a big right to pursue a
double. Almakhan stonewalls him and loads up again, and Topuria is
too close so he avoids the damage. Topuria backs Almakhan up with a
jab and a right hand, and he narrowly evades an up-elbow. Topuria
does not need long to bloody up the Kazakh again, who responds to a
few jabs with power punches. Topuria sets up a right hand that
sends Almakhan reeling, and he blasts “The Turan Warrior” with a
second as Almakhan’s eyes roll around in his head as he stumbles to
a knee. Almakhan blinks it out and climbs back to his feet, and Topuria is
right in his face pressuring him the entire time. Almakhan does
give him back a few fists to think about, but Topuria’s power is
telling at this stage. A massive swing from Topuria is met with a
tackling takedown from Almakhan, although the act of keeping
Topuria on the ground is less successful. Topuria gets back up and
is right behind his jab once more. The jab opens up his right hand,
which catches Almakhan flush on the cheek. Almakhan looks for a
spinning elbow, recovering just in time to stop a takedown shot
from the Georgian. Almakhan uses the fence behind him to stay on
his feet, and he manages to get free with about 15 seconds to
spare. Almakhan explodes into action, swarming his man with a
lengthy string of fists and a pair of vicious knees to the jaw.
Topuria tanks them all like a champ and wags his finger at Almakhan
demoralizingly, and the match comes to a close. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Topuria (29-28 Topuria) Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Topuria (30-27 Topuria) Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Topuria (30-27 Topuria)

The UFC is back in Montreal, the city of the world-famous Expos,
for the first time in over a decade. Two champions will attempt to
defend their thrones for the first times—with the first of those
two on her second stint as a titleholder. Before then, an even 10
matches from flyweight to light heavyweight will play out with
plenty of Canadians in tow to give the home crowd someone to
support in most of those bouts. The first of those fights pits
Canada’s Katona (14-4, 4-4 UFC) against the hard-swinging Almakhan
(11-2, 0-1 UFC) at 135 pounds. With referee Jason Herzog taking
charge of the contest, the two men consider touching gloves but
bail so they can get after it. It’s time for some action. Almakhan
takes the center of the cage, allowing Katona to circle around him.
Almakhan leads the dance with a body shot, and then strings
together a few punches up top before Katona could get away. When
Katona settles down, Almakhan surges towards him and connects with
a trio of punches. Katona ducks face-first into an uppercut, wears
it well and counters to give the Kazakhstani a taste of his own
medicine. Almakhan appears to have his foe’s timing early, as he
bounces in and out while watching Katona’s movement carefully. The moment Katona is about to attack, Almakhan offers a destructive
uppercut that sends Katona crashing to his back. Almakhan leaps on
top, hammering “Superman” with hammerfists that prove to be
Katona’s kryptonite . Herzog does not need to see more
than a few before stepping in as Katona’s lights flicker on and
off, and Almakhan has notched his first UFC victory in a huge way.
“The Turan Warrior” violently becomes the first fighter to ever
finish the durable Canadian, getting him out of there in a little
over a minute. Despite a home country fighter getting wrecked in
the opening bout, fans have to give it up to the impressive display
from the Zhekpe Zhek practitioner.

There are plenty of questions coming into this bantamweight
contest. Nurmagomedov (16-0, 4-0 UFC) is undefeated with four wins
in the UFC including three stoppages, but he does not draw a ranked
contender. Instead, he fights promotional newcomer Almakhan (11-1,
0-0 UFC), who has had quite a week himself. Previously billed at
17-1 by the UFC and other record keepers, after a Sherdog Fight
Finder investigation, we learned that Almakhan actually celebrates
11 pro MMA wins and another 11 wins under bouts under modified
rules similar to MMA. Whether the youngster from Kazakhstan can
spring one of the bigger betting upsets in UFC history, referee
Marc Goddard will be the first one to know. The -1600 favorite
Nurmagomedov and +850 dog Almakhan touch gloves, and Almakhan moves
to the center of the cage early. He releases a head kick, and is
met with a low kick when that is blocked. Almakhan rips a kick to
the body, and it comes close to hitting the cup so he offers an
apology. Almakhan unloads a huge right hand that knocks
Nurmagomedov to his seat, and he jumps after the unbeaten fighter
to finish the job. Nurmagomedov desperately dives after a single,
and he succeeds to get him down and eventually works his way to
side control. Nurmagomedov slams down elbows from the position
until Almakhan scrambles to his knees, and Nurmagomedov takes his
back gets the hooks in. Almakhan squirms from one side to the other
to try to escape, and Nurmagomedov softens him up with short
punches. Nurmagomedov secures the body triangle briefly, and
Almakhan breaks it up for a time. Almakhan hand-fights and turns to
a side, but before he can escape, Nurmagomedov spins around and
moves to top position. Nurmagomedov keeps heavy chest pressure when
elbowing on top, marking up Almakhan’s nose. Nurmagomedov grinds
with elbows until the horn sounds. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov

The fighters clap hands to get things started, and both men are
tentative to engage. Almakhan keeps a safe distance, hopping away
from a low kick, but not able to dodge a head kick. Almakhan
overswings with a right hand, and Nurmagomedov shoots in with a
perfectly timed takedown to put the youngster from Kazakhstan on
his back. Nurmagomedov moves right into half guard, where he picks
up with elbows until he hops to side control on the other side.
Almakhan explodes his way upright suddenly, and when Nurmagomedov
stands lazily, Almakhan blasts him with a high kick that might have
been questionable. Nurmagomedov times a single-leg takedown and
completes it with relative ease, and he sits up and starts elbowing
as he moves into full mount. Almakhan bucks his hips, and he
absorbs elbows on his face. Nurmagomedov lets go with punches and
elbows, with a flurry that allows Almakhan to burst back to his
feet. Nurmagomedov shoots from afar for a single, and Almakhan
stops the first attempt but cannot stop Nurmagomedov from circling
around to take his back and drag him down. Nurmagomedov moves right
back into full mount, where he hacks down with elbows to bloody up
Almakhan and lump him up. Nurmagomedov pummels his foe with
punches, and Almakhan keeps his guard up to take the sting out of
most of them before exploding once more to stand. Nurmagomedov
thwarts this bucking and stays on him in side control, before he
slithers around to take Almakhan’s back with 10 seconds to spare.
Almakhan sits up as Nurmagomedov slugs him, and the bell rings. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov

A quick glove touch opens up the last round, and Almakhan hops back
from a low kick before sprinting forward to deliver a head kick
that skims past the unbeaten fighter’s head. Nurmagomedov sticks
out a jab, and he eats a body shot and goes up high with a kick as
Almakhan smiles at him. Almakhan goes wide with a booming right
hand that nearly makes him fall to the ground, and Nurmagomedov
shoots with an effortless single to put Almakhan on his back.
Nurmagomedov scoots his way to half guard to strike with the point
of his elbow, and his left hand similarly finds its home on
Almakhan’s swelling face. Nurmagomedov continues bludgeoning the
newcomer with open left hands, and he follows Almakhan as Almakhan
butt-scoots his way to the fence. Almakhan turns to his side so he
can get to his knees, and Nurmagomedov takes his back and flattens
him out. Almakhan turns to his side, and Nurmagomedov lords over
him in three-quarter mount, laying into him with unanswered
punches. Almakhan sits up, and Nurmagomedov hops over to take his
back again. Almakhan’s experience in mixed-rules fights may be
working against him at this point, as he is used to 30-second
mandatory standups while grappling, even with back control or other
dominant positions that Nurmagomedov has imposed on him.
Nurmagomedov slices into mount again and he jackhammers the
Kazakhstani fighter with elbows. Nurmagomedov postures up and tries
to finish the fight with relentless ground-and-pound, but the fight
ends before he can secure a stoppage. When he stands up, Almakhan
is busted and swollen all over, and he can barely put weight on his
left leg in a real “welcome to the UFC” moment. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov (30-27
Nurmagomedov) Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov (30-27
Nurmagomedov) Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Nurmagomedov (30-27
Nurmagomedov)

Bekzat Almakhan

Fight History

Fighter Skills Radar

Key Insights

Striking Profile

Key Insights

Grappling Profile

Key Insights

Conclusions Summary