UFC Fight Night: Muin Gafurov vs Jakub Wiklacz Preview & Prediction
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Bantamweight prospects share the cage for the third fight of the night, with Jakub Wiklacz slated to throw down with Muin Gafarov.
Muin Gafurov vs Jakub Wiklacz facts
What time are Muin Gafurov and Jakub Wiklacz expected to walk out?
Where is UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira? Meta Apex, Enterprise, USA
Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night
What TV channel is UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – Not televised
Where can I stream UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira? UK – TNT Sports can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and discovery+ / USA – Paramount+ & UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira main card
Mario Bautista vs Vinicius Oliveira (Bantamweight)
Amir Albazi vs Kyoji Horiguchi (Flyweight)
Jailton Almeida vs Rizvan Kuniev (Heavyweight)
Michał Oleksiejczuk vs Marc-Andre Barriault (Middleweight)
Jean Matsumoto vs Farid Basharat (Bantamweight)
Dustin Jacoby vs Julius Walker (Light Heavyweight)
UFC Fight Night: Bautista vs Oliveira prelims
Alex Morono vs Daniil Donchenko (Welterweight)
Bruna Brasil vs Ketlen Souza (Women’s Strawweight)
Said Nurmagomedov vs Javid Basharat (Bantamweight)
Wang Cong vs Eduarda Moura (Women’s Flyweight)
Muin Gafurov vs Jakub Wiklacz (Bantamweight)
Klaudia Syguła vs Priscila Cachoeira (Women’s Bantamweight)
Nikolay Veretennikov vs Jose Henrique Souza (Middleweight)
Muin Gafurov: "Tajik" touches down in the Octagon for the first time since 2025 in search of his third successive win
Making his first performance in over a year, Muin Gafarov (20-6) looks to build on an impressive showing last time out, battering Road to UFC standout, Rinya Nakamura, en route to an upset unanimous decision victory at UFC 311. A veteran of ONE Championship, “Tajik’s” UFC record currently stands at 2-2; he rides a two fight win streak into this matchup after coming up short in his first two UFC appearances. The 29 year old Gafurov is a well rounded threat wherever the fight takes place, boasting a sneakily efficient submission game with underrated power on the feet. Said Nurmagomedov was able to submit him with a nasty guillotine in his sophomore UFC appearance but Gafurov has never been finished with strikes in nearly thirty professional fights.
Jakub Wiklacz: Can the former KSW champ build on an upset victory over Patchy Mix in his debut?
A former title holder in well-regarded promotion KSW, Jakub Wiklacz (17-3-2) scored the biggest win of his career in his UFC debut, besting former Bellator champion, Patchy Mix, by unanimous decision, despite closing as a near 3-1 underdog. A talented scrambler who will work the body with kicks to open up his takedowns, the 29 year old Pole hasn’t lost a fight since 2020, a result that he just so happens to have already avenged twice. An opportunistic submission threat who flows effortlessly through scrambles, “Masa” has ten victories by tap-out to underline the danger that he poses once the action hits the mat. However, some question marks over his cardio at this level remain, given that he looked visibly exhausted against Mix in his only UFC performance to date.
Muin Gafurov vs Jakub Wiklacz prediction
Despite being pegged as major underdogs in their previous fights, both fighters walked away with upset decision wins. It's hard to definitively say whose victory stood out more; the style of Gafurov's victory over Rinya Nakamura was much more convincing, but Patchy Mix is arguably the more impressive scalp of the two bantamweights. As such, it's slightly bemusing as to why Gafurov is a slight favorite here.
While "Tajik" is arguably the more naturally powerful striker of the two, Wiklacz has a slight edge in height and reach heading into this one; a state of affairs that could prove decisive on the feet given the razor close nature of this match up. Moreover, while Gafurov has serviceable wrestling and a decent submission game to fall back on, it's hard to envision him consistently getting the better of his Polish foe on the mat. Wiklacz is renowned as an excellent grappler; he's never been outwrestled and hasn't lost by submission since a heel hook defeat in the infancy of his career.
Gafurov unquestionably looked excellent in his last appearance against Nakamura, but it's also worth noting that the decorated freestyle wrestler inexplicably chose to forego his grappling in favour of striking with "Tajik." That contest was also more than a year ago, meaning that he's contentiously lost a lot of the momentum associated with such an impressive victory, while "Masa" is fresh off the biggest win of his career in October.
Prediction: Jakub Wiklacz to win
