Curtis Blaydes vs Rizvan Kuniev at UFC on ABC 8 | Preview & Prediction
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This is a bout that has been months in the making as Curtis Blades and Rizvan Kuniev finally meet after two previous attempts to schedule this fight earlier this year fell through
Curtis Blaydes vs Rizvan Kuniev Facts
What time are Curtis Blaydes and Rizvan Kuniev expected to walk out?
Where is UFC on ABC 8? Baku Crystal Hall, Baku, Azerbaijan
Where can I get tickets for UFC on ABC 8? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC on ABC 8
What TV channel is UFC on ABC 8 on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – ABC (main card) & ESPN preliminary card
Where can I stream UFC on ABC 8? UK – TNT Sports subscribers can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and discovery+ / USA – ESPN+ & UFC Fight Pass
UFC on ABC 8 main card
Jamahal Hill vs Khalil Rountree Jr. (Light Heavyweight)
Rafael Fiziev vs Ignacio Bahamondes (Lightweight)
Curtis Blaydes vs Rizvan Kuniev (Heavyweight)
Tofiq Musayev vs Myktybek Orolbai (Lightweight)
Nazim Sadykhov vs Nikolas Motta (Lightweight)
Muhammad Naimov vs Bogdan Grad (Featherweight)
UFC on ABC 8 prelims
Ko Seok-hyun vs Oban Elliott (Welterweight)
Ismail Naurdiev vs Park Jun-yong (Middleweight)
Melissa Mullins vs Daria Zheleznyakova (Women’s Bantamweight)
Irina Alekseeva vs Klaudia Syguła (Women’s Bantamweight)
Tagir Ulanbekov vs Azat Maksum (Flyweight)
Hamdy Abdelwahab vs Mohammed Usman (Heavyweight)
Curtis Blaydes vs Rizvan Kuniev prediction
Curtis Blaydes (18-5 with one no contest) makes his return after almost a year out since he lost to Tom Aspinall in a bout that was for the interim UFC heavyweight title. He was knocked out in just 60 seconds and he will be hoping to bounce back after taking a fair amount of time out of the Octagon to reset.
The man ranked number five in the rankings has fought and beaten so many of the top 15 heavyweights in the UFC and he will not be fazed by meeting a UFC newcomer.
Rizvan Kuniev (12-2-1 with one no contest) makes his debut in the Octagon after getting his shot thanks to Dana White’s Contender Series where he TKO’d Hugo Cunha.
The Dagestani fighter has knockout power but is a formidable wrestler and he has multiple ways to win. It will be fascinating to see how he measures up with Blaydes and while the bookies have him as a fair underdog, it would be wise not to underestimate him.
We can see this being something of a shootout as they may well cancel each other out from a wrestling perspective. That said, with both of these being so dangerous, we simply cannot see this going the distance and that is our preferred play here.
Prediction: Fight will not go the distance
