Fight Analysis
Reasons To Watch UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs Gaziev
Sat, Mar 2 / 4pm EST / Main Card
UFC APEX
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Last weekend the UFC hosted and amazing card in Mexico City. There were great fights in and out of the octogon, in an all around fantastic show. It included from great fights in the octogon, outside of the octogon, and a Georgean man pretending to be mexican.
(Mexican Merab faces the biggest staredown of his life)
This week, UFC returns to the Apex for a much smaller event and less anticipated card. It feels to me a bit that the UFC 299 and UFC 300 cards watered down some of the fight nights here and there. Those events have prelim fights that could easily headline a fight night.
If you are expecting this to be a card to skip but need a few reasons to tune in, keep reading ahead. It wont be a normal breakdown, but here are my thoughts on why this is still worth watching.
1st Reason: Early Start Time
If your like me, you welcome mid day fight cards whenever they are offered. It eliminates a lot cons I mentioned when I wrote about trying to keep up with MMA as an adult fan with other commitments.
A Guide To Watching Fights When Your A Responsible Adult
Who doesn’t want to flip on some UFC while the sun is still up?
2nd Reason: Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0, #13)
It’s been over a year since we have seen Umar fight. He was scheduled to take on top five ranked Cory Sandhagen in July, but had to pull out because of injury. He’s been a little bit of a boogeyman at bantamweight and it will be fun to see him compete again.
He should win (-1050 moneyline favorite at the moment) and start to truly enter the mix at 135 pounds. Besides for Cory, there have not been a lot of takers for Umar in the top 10, but they can only avoid it for so long.
3rd Reason: Main Event
Rosenstruik (13-5, #12) vs Gaziev (12-0)
Time to be honest.. I don’t really care about Rosenstruik. He is a kickboxer who probably deserves to be at the #12 rank based off his record. That being said, I do want to see Shamil Gaziev. This is what peak athletesism looks like:
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Ok... that isnt the best photo of him. Here is what he likely will look like on Saturday.
Fighting of Bahrain, Gaziev is a monster of a man. If you’re ignorant like me and don’t know where it is he’s from exactly, here it is on a map and a picture of its beautiful skyline.
Rosenstruik will be a decent test for him - if Gaziev can land a knockout or secure some kind of finish, he will join the ranked heavyweights and may just be a problem for the rest of the division.
Gambling?
If you can get Gaziev at -175 or so where he is now, roll with that. Bet Umar Nurmagomedov somehow someway too if you can. I did bet that Gaziev gets a first round knockout as it was +200. I cant promise this will hit, but for me it is a fun bet for a fight like this to throw a few bucks on.
Honestly? I’m saving my shekels for next weekend for UFC 299 in Miami, and I suggest you largely do the same as that is a stacked card from top to bottom. Hopefully these heavyweights can hold us over till then.
