UFC Fight Night 262: Azamat Bekoev vs Yousri Belgaroui Preview & Prediction
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Middleweights are on deck for the second fight of the night, with Azamat Bekoev poised to throw down with Yousri Belgaroui.
Azamat Bekoev vs Yousri Belgaroui facts
What time are Azamat Bekoev and Yousri Belgaroui expected to walk out?
Where is UFC Fight Night 262: De Ridder vs Allen? Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada
Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night 262: De Ridder vs Allen? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night 262
What TV channel is UFC Fight Night 262: De Ridder vs Allen on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – ESPN+
Where can I stream UFC Fight Night 262: De Ridder vs Allen? UK – TNT Sports subscribers can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and discovery+ / USA – ESPN+ & UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night 262: De Ridder vs Allen main card
Reinier de Ridder vs Brendan Allen (Middleweight)
Kevin Holland vs Mike Malott (Welterweight)
Marlon Vera vs Aiemann Zahabi (Bantamweight)
Manon Fiorot vs Jasmine Jasudavicius (Women’s Flyweight)
Cody Gibson vs Aori Qileng (Bantamweight)
Kyle Nelson vs Matt Frevola (Lightweight)
UFC Fight Night 262: De Ridder vs Allen prelims
Charles Jourdain vs Davey Grant (Bantamweight)
Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs Park Hyun-sung (Flyweight)
Danny Barlow vs Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos (Middleweight)
Kyle Prepolec vs Drew Dober (Lightweight)
Stephanie Luciano vs Ravena Oliveira (Women’s Strawweight)
Azamat Bekoev vs Yousri Belgaroui (Middleweight)
Melissa Croden vs Tainara Lisboa (Women’s Bantamweight)
Azamat Bekoev: The heavy-handed Russian aims to go 3-0 in his UFC tenure
A two time defending LFA champion before making the jump to the UFC in 2025, Azamat Bekoev (20-3) has made an impressive start to life in his new promotion. To date, “Iron” has destroyed Zach Reese and Ryan Loder with back to back first round knockouts, with the latter of those wins earning him a Performance of the Night bonus. A prolific finisher with heavy hands and spiteful ground and pound who fights out of American Top Team, the 29 year old Bekoev looks to maintain his undefeated run in the face of a significant height and reach disadvantage.
Yousri Belgaroui: Can "Poatan's" training partner make a huge splash in his debut?
A training partner and former opponent of current light heavyweight kingpin, Alex Pereira, Yousri Belgaroui (8-3) punched his ticket into the promotion with a nasty KO win over Taiga Iwasaki in his second appearance on the Contender Series in 2024, after coming up short to current UFC prospect Marco Tulio first time around. A former Glory kickboxer, the “Baby Face Assassin” has six wins by KO to highlight the considerable danger that he poses on the feet. The 33 year is also absolutely enormous for the weight class, standing 6’5 with a comical 79’ reach.
Azamat Bekoev vs Yousri Belgaroui prediction
The towering Belgaroui looks to be a fun addition to the 185 pound weight class. In addition to his connection to “Poatan”, he’s enormous, has a wealth of striking experience, and fights with an exciting, fan friendly style. As such, it’s hard to reason why the UFC are seemingly feeding him to the wolves in his very first fight.
Simply put, Bekoev is very, very good. While his bread and butter is arguably his vicious ground and pound, he’s proven to be extremely well-rounded. With sixteen finishes split evenly between knockouts and submissions, he’s capable of ending the fight wherever it takes place. He’s never been finished and has a huge edge in overall MMA experience heading into this match up. As such, he figures to lean on it heavily against a man with just over ten professional MMA bouts, who has also been outgrappled before.
A pure striking match up would make it easier to make an argument for Belgaroui, but this is going to be an MMA fight. The more well-rounded Bekoev mixes the martial arts better and becomes the first man to finish the “Baby Face Assassin”.
Prediction: Azamat Bekoev to win by stoppage
