UFC Fight Night: Yousri Belgaroui vs Djorden Santos Preview & Prediction

Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!

A middleweight prelim that looks to be a mismatch on paper, former Glory title challenger Yousri Belgaroui welcomes short-notice replacement Djorden Santos to Glendale.

Yousri Belgaroui vs Djorden Santos facts

What time are Yousri Belgaroui and Djorden Santos expected to walk out? 12 September 2026 at 8:45 pm

Where is UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Delgado? Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, USA

Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Delgado? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night 288

What TV channel is UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Delgado on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – Paramount

Where can I stream UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Delgado? UK – TNT Sports can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and HBO Max / USA – Paramount+ & UFC Fight Pass

UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Delgado main card

Jean Silva vs Jose Delgado (Featherweight)

Brandon Moreno vs Joseph Morales (Flyweight)

Tommy McMillen vs Marwan Rahiki (Featherweight)

Manon Fiorot vs Alexa Grasso (Women's Flyweight)

Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs Curtis Blaydes (Heavyweight)

David Martinez vs Dan Ige (Bantamweight)

UFC Fight Night: Silva vs Delgado prelims

Tim Elliott vs Edgar Chairez (Flyweight)

Ignacio Bahamondes vs Muslim Salikhov (Welterweight)

Yousri Belgaroui vs Djorden Santos (Middleweight)

Drakkar Klose vs Thomas Gantt (Lightweight)

Rafa Garcia vs Rong Zhu (Lightweight)

Sean King vs Jessie Rosas (Featherweight)

JJ Aldrich vs Regina Tarin (Women's Flyweight)

Yousri Belgaroui: “The Boogeyman” installed as the biggest favourite on the card

Yousri Belgaroui (10-3) went 27-7 as a Glory kickboxer, challenging three times for the middleweight title and beating Alex Poatan Pereira in their first meeting back in 2017. Now training alongside him and Glover Teixeira in Connecticut, he is 2-0 in the UFC and was priced as an underdog both times, stopping the experienced Azamat Bekoev in the third before dismantling the undefeated Mansur Abdul-Malik in Seattle. At 6’6” with a 79 inch reach, he is a physical outlier at 185.

Djorden Santos: “Shakur” takes on the call in search of a second UFC win

Djorden Santos (11-3) is 1-2 since arriving via the Contender Series, outpointing Danny Barlow between his losses to Ozzy Diaz and Baisangur Susurkaev. The 29-year-old is a striker first despite his four career subs, a pressure boxer who marches behind a jab and mixes in calf kicks. Against Diaz he threw with enormous volume across three rounds. He uses grappling opportunistically and doesn’t have a bad front-choke system.

Yousri Belgaroui vs Djorden Santos prediction

Santos’ entire game is walking forward into boxing range and out-working people there. That’s dangerous against Belgaroui, the Dutchman sets his distance with low kicks and jabs to the head and body, keeps his hands out to intercept strikes early, and punishes anyone who closes the distance with knees to the body and elbows up top. Santos has volume but not the accuracy to go with it, and against Belgaroui, who is an efficient striker he will lose the trades.

The grappling doesn’t save Santos either. Santos uses his wrestling defensively and has landed one takedown from five attempts across his UFC run. Belgaroui does concede them but nobody has managed to keep him there. Him training at Pereira and Teixeira’s camp has allowed him to have elite defensive wrestling. 

Santos is tough, and he has never been finished by strikes in his 14 pro fights. But Belgaroui isn’t a one and done power hitter, he needed the third round to break both Bekoev and Abdul-Malik, and both of those men bring more to the table than Santos does. There’s no need to overthink this, Belgaroui is a lock. I see him being the first person to KO/TKO Santos, probably in the second or third round.

Prediction: Yousri Belgaroui to win by KO/TKO