UFC 323: Muhammad Naimov vs Mairon Santos Preview & Prediction
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Featherweights serve as the first fight of the night, with Muhammad Naimov squaring off against Mairon Santos in a high level match up outside the rankings at 145 pounds.
Muhammad Naimov vs Mairon Santos facts
What time are Muhammad Naimov and Mairon Santos expected to walk out?
Where is UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2? T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, USA
Where can I get tickets for UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2
What TV channel is UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2 on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – ESPN+
Where can I stream UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2? UK – TNT Sports subscribers can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and discovery+ / USA – ESPN+ & UFC Fight Pass
UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2 main card
Merab Dvalishvili vs Petr Yan (Bantamweight)
Alexandre Pantoja vs Joshua Van (Flyweight)
Brandon Moreno vs Tatsuro Taira (Flyweight)
Henry Cejudo vs Payton Talbott (Bantamweight)
Jan Błachowicz vs Bogdan Guskov (Light Heavyweight)
UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2 prelims
Grant Dawson vs Manuel Torres (Lightweight)
Terrance McKinney vs Chris Duncan (Lightweight)
Maycee Barber vs Karine Silva (Women’s Flyweight)
Nazim Sadykhov vs Fares Ziam (Lightweight)
Marvin Vettori vs Brunno Ferreira (Middleweight)
Edson Barboza vs Jalin Turner (Lightweight)
Iwo Baraniewski vs Ibo Aslan (Light Heavyweight)
Mansur Abdul-Malik vs Antonio Trocoli (Middleweight)
Muhammad Naimov vs Mairon Santos (Featherweight)
Muhammad Naimov: Can "Hillman" cash in as a considerable underdog?
With just a single defeat in six fights since joining the promotion, Muhammad Naimov (13-3) has established himself as one of the toughest outs that the featherweight division has to offer, despite initially coming up short on the Contender Series as an undefeat prospect back in 2020. The well rounded Tajikistani bruiser has since scored wins over the likes of Nathaniel Wood, Bogdan Grad, and Jamie Mullarkey to underline his credentials as one of the hardest tests outside the 145 pound rankings, posting just a single defeat to Felipe Lima in just over two years with the promotion.
Mairon Santos: "The Legend" kicks off UFC 323 looking to push his UFC record to 4-0
Featherweight winner of TUF 32, Mairon Santos (17-1) looks to be one of the best prospects produced on the flagging reality show in recent memory. The 25 year old Brazilian rattled off consecutive decision wins over Francis Marshall and Sodiq Yussuf after decimating Kaan Ofli by KO in the TUF finale to push his overall UFC record to 3-0 in the space of just over a year. Training out of Xtreme Couture, "The Legend" looks to be a really good prospect. He's got some serious power and his only loss came prior to joining the UFC; a state of affairs that also isn't hurt by the fact that it came against former UFC tough out Dan Argueta in the early stages of his career.
Muhammad Naimov vs Mairon Santos prediction
On paper, Naimov should arguably be the favorite here. He's 5-1 in the promotion having fought some really decent levels of competition, with his only loss coming against the ever dangerous Felipe Lima. With that being said, his success has still arguably come with a number of asterisks; Naimov's victory over Bogdan Grad was razor close and he cheated incessantly on the way to victory against Nathaniel Wood.
Santos might have looked iffy against in his sophomore bow against Daniel Marshall, but he produced a really solid, mature performance against Sodiq Yussuf. "Super" may have declined drastically over the last few years, but he's still been in there with some of the best fighters that featherweight has to offer and is no easy out. "The Legend" has already proved that he has the power necessary to sleep his opponents; if Naimov takes some of the shots that he took against the likes of Grad and Wood, he could well find himself staring up at the bright lights.
It's also worth taking the pair's respective performances against their sole mutual opponent, Kaan Ofli, into account. MMA math can be notoriously unpredictable, but it's hard to ignore the fact that Naimov took "Genghis" to a drab decision, while Santos absolutely destroyed him with a highlight reel knockout.
Naimov is undoubtedly capable of scoring the upset, but the pick is for Santos to kick off the card with a win.
Prediction: Mairon Santos to win
