UFC Saudi Arabia Card Loaded With Potential Bangers

It has been an electrifying start to the year in the world of MMA.

Between Merab Dvalishvili’s masterclass and Renato Moicano’s unexpected shot at Islam Makhachev at UFC 311, and the 25-minute epic encounter that Paul Hughes and Usman Nurmagomedov dished up at last week’s PFL event in Dubai, fans have barely had time to draw breath before witnessing the next moment of magic.

And this weekend’s UFC Saudi Arabia card looks set to keep the excitement coming.

With Israel Adesanya competing in a non-title fight for the first time since he beat Anderson Silva way back in 2019, and human highlight machine Michael “Venom” Page set to take on Shara “Bullet” Magomedov in the co-main event, Saturday’s card is not short on star power.

Outside of those top two fights however, there are plenty of matchups flying under the radar that carry “fight of the night” potential.

Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik

On a fight card full of high-level strikers, the heavyweight clash between Pavlovich and Rozenstruik perhaps has the most potential to deliver an earth-shattering knockout finish.

After losing his UFC debut to Alistair Overeem back in 2018, Pavlovich (18-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) went on a tear, winning his next 6 fights by way of first round knockout.

This resulted in a short-notice shot at the UFC interim heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall at UFC 295. After suffering a first-round knockout defeat there the wheels seemed to come off. He lost a unanimous decision to his fellow Russian Alexander Volkov in his next fight and goes into this weekend in desperate need of a victory.

Former kickboxer Rozenstruik (15-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) has finsihed 13 of his 15 professional victories by way of KO/TKO and will happily stand and trade with Pavlovich this Saturday.

Said Nurmagomedov vs. Vinicius Oliveira

Two surging bantamweights collide on the main card as Said Nurmagomedov returns to action after an extended hiatus to take on former UAE Warriors champion Vimicius Oliveira.

Nurmagomedov (18-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) has won 5 of his last 6 fights in the UFC, with 3 of those wins coming by way of guillotine. He was last seen in the Octagon at UFC 294 in October of 2023 where he submitted Muin Gafarov in just 73 seconds.

Oliveira (21-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) punched his ticket into the big leagues by way of a sensational left hook KO over Victor Madrigal on Dana White’s Contender Series in late 2023.

He enjoyed a perfect start to his UFC career in 2024, picking up two wins over Bernardo Sopaj and Ricky Simon, with his flying knee finsih over Sopaj marking him out as one to watch in the UFC’s talent-rich bantamweight division.

Fares Ziam vs. Mike Davis

Two promising lightweights who each have won their last four fights meet in Saturday’s main card opener.

France’s Ziam (16-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is coming hot off the heels of winning his first ‘performance of the night’ bonus when he knocked out Matt Frevola at UFC Paris in September.

Davis (11-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) lost his UFC debut to Gilbert Burns back in 2019 but has responded brilliantly by winning 4 on the bounce. He looked excellent in his last outing when he submiited Natan Levy at the UFC Apex last March.

Paul Browne

Paul Browne is a professional mixed martial arts commentator, feature writer and podcaster based in Dublin, Ireland.