Preview: UFC on ABC 7 Prelims

When the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with UFC on ABC 7 this Saturday at Etihad Arena, it will do so with a decent slate of prelims attached. Ranked light heavyweights Azamat Murzakanov and Alonzo Menifield look to make a statement in the featured slot, and there are some interesting prospects further down the card. Recent headliner Shamil Gaziev still qualifies as a heavyweight prospect, as he looks for a bounce-back win against Don’Tale Mayes, and a clash between Guram Kutateladze and Jordan Vucenic pairs off two high-upside lightweights. Everything else is matched for an acceptable level of violence, so this should serve as an entertaining appetizer to a strong main draw.

Now to the preview for the UFC on ABC 7 “Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov” prelims:

Light Heavyweights

#14 LHW | Azamat Murzakanov (13-0, 3-0 UFC) vs. #15 LHW | Alonzo Menifield (15-4-1, 8-4-1 UFC)

ODDS: Murzakanov (-205), Menifield (+170)

Menifield’s last bout didn’t go particularly well, so it’s nice to see him step in for a quick turnaround to try and erase that last impression. A late convert to mixed martial arts, Menifield has always had the physicality to compete at the UFC level, but it was unclear if things would ever coalesce enough for him to charge up the rankings. “Atomic” could hit hard or embrace the grind as needed but never showed enough depth in either area to turn any sort of major corner until his last few fights. After stringing together a few wins that mostly reflected his opponents’ weaknesses, Menifield got a much-needed proof-of-concept victory against Dustin Jacoby in one of his stronger performances. Menifield just stayed patient and cashed in on some striking opportunities, landing hard enough to win rounds with a few big shots in the face of Jacoby’s more consistent output. That showing made his May loss to Carlos Ulberg all the more disappointing, as Menifield charged out in overly aggressive fashion and opened himself up for a knockout in just 12 seconds, erasing a lot of his previous gains. Menifield gets a tough but winnable bounce-back fight here against Murzakanov, who could use this as a major opportunity to re-announce himself. Murzakanov took a particularly long road to his first UFC fight. Initially signed by the promotion in 2017, “The Professional” failed a drug test and wound back on the regionals before getting another contract four years later. Murzakanov’s approach doesn’t look particularly impressive at first, but he has lived up to his undefeated record inside the UFC. Undersized but quick, the Russian fights at a slow pace but lands some dynamic offense with a sharp level of accuracy, either knocking out his opponents or neutralizing them via literally beating them to the punch. Like Menifield, Murzakanov’s breakout win came against Jacoby and in similar fashion, with the K Dojo Warrior Tribe product consistently landing big shots to stay ahead on the scorecards. However, injuries have kept Murzakanov from building on that momentum, as he has been out of action for nearly 16 months. This figures to be fairly even, but Murzakanov’s ability to pick up steam as the fight goes on, along with Menifield’s occasional defensive flammability, gives the Russian the edge. The pick is Murzakanov via third-round knockout.

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Murzakanov vs. Menifield
Fernandes vs. Yahya
Gaziev vs. Mayes
Kutateladze vs. Vucenic
Dudakova vs. Hughes
Herbert vs. Bedoya
Dumas vs. Tiuliulin