UFC Fight Night: Tahir Abdullayev vs Jefferson Nascimento Preview & Prediction
Debutants take the stage for the first fight of the night on the prelims, with Tahir Abdullayev taking on Jefferson Nascimento at 170 pounds.
Tahir Abdullayev vs Jefferson Nascimento facts
What time are Tahir Abdullayev and Jefferson Nascimento expected to walk out?
Where is UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres? National Gymnastics Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan
Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night 280
What TV channel is UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – Paramount
Where can I stream UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres? UK – TNT Sports can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and HBO Max / USA – Paramount+ & UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres main card
Rafael Fiziev vs Manuel Torres (Lightweight)
Sharabutdin Magomedov vs Michel Pereira (Middleweight)
Nazim Sadykhov vs Matheus Camilo (Lightweight)
Asu Almabayev vs Charles Johnson (Flyweight)
Ikram Aliskerov vs Brunno Ferreira (Middleweight)
Abusupiyan Magomedov vs Michal Oleksiejczuk (Middleweight)
UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres prelims
Farman Hasanov vs Eric Nolan (Welterweight)
Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev vs Julius Walker (Light Heavyweight)
Nursulton Ruziboev vs Andrey Pulyaev (Middleweight)
Kaan Ofli vs Javier Reyes (Featherweight)
Daniil Donchenko vs Theodor Berggren (Welterweight)
Bekzat Almakhan vs Jean Matsumoto (Bantamweight)
Tahir Abdullayev vs Jefferson Nascimento (Welterweight)
Tahir Abdullayev: "Tank" enters the promotion in search of a fairytale debut on home soil
Fighting out of his native Azerbaijan in his first appearance with the promotion, Tahir Abdullayev (21-3) enters the UFC after stints with Fight Night Global and UAE Warriors. A strong wrestler with serviceable striking, “Tank” typically bides his time on the feet before attacking submissions aggressively once he’s able to force the action the mat. With sixteen finishes split almost virtually even between KOs and submissions, Abdullayev is a proven finisher. However, his strength of schedule leaves a lot to be desired, with “Tank” typically dropping results when he faces any form of decent fighter.
Jefferson Nascimento: Will the Brazilian KO artist maintain his undefeated record up a weight class?
Putting his undefeated record on the line in his UFC debut, former lightweight LFA champion, Jefferson Nascimento (13-0) looks to make a statement in his first bout with the promotion. “Toddynho” is a heavy pressure striker who can occasionally overextend during his fights, such is his desire to inflict damage on his opponents with every limb. The Brazilian has looked extremely impressive in his LFA tenure to date, beating decent levels of opposition and scoring a number of brutal finishes to boot. However, this fight comes 15 pounds north of his natural weight class, with Nascimento moving up a division to take this bout on short notice.
Tahir Abdullayev vs Jefferson Nascimento prediction
Abdullayev has the experience edge on paper, but I think that Nascimento is arguably the more proven commodity, having put in an impressive body of work in a well regarded promotion like LFA. Abdullayev’s resume is littered with cans and inexperienced fighters; he’s only one fight removed from taking on somebody with a 7-9 record and took a fighter who was just 3-1 to the second round in his last appearance.
However, his size could prove to be the determining factor here. Nascimento is moving up to 170 pounds to take this fight and Abdullayev is a big welterweight. “Toddynho” fought at lightweight less than a month ago and hasn’t had the time to build into his new weight class properly, meaning that there’s a real possibility that he could get badly outmuscled in any grappling exchanges. He also got dropped badly in his last fight and may not have had time to recover sufficiently.
However, we’re still going with him to score the KO here. “Tank” has often looked slow and ploddy on the feet and has extremely poor defense, meaning that if Nascimento can avoid extended grappling exchanges, I like his chances to leverage his speed advantage and land something devastating out in the open. The undefeated Brazilian produces a vicious KO to silence the home crowd somewhere in the first two rounds.
Prediction: Jefferson Nascimento to win by KO
