Paulo Costa vs Ikram Aliskerov slated for UFC 291
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Salt Lake City, Utah on July 29, 2023, and this is one you don’t want to miss!
Headlining the UFC 291 event is a lightweight rematch between former interim champions Dustin Poirier (29-7) and Justin Gaethje (24-4).
There’s also been another very intriguing bout added to the lineup, as former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1) faces former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira (7-2), which is presumed to be the co-main event.
Then, earlier on the main card we have an epic middleweight showdown between former title challenger Paulo Costa (14-2) and Russian assassin Ikram Aliskerov (14-1). This is such an exciting match up for so many reasons.
Many of us have wanted to see Khamzat Chimaev face Paulo Costa, but it looks like we’ll end up getting Costa versus the Aliskerov, a man who has only ever lost to Chimaev.
Aliskerov was 8-0 going into that fight, and he walked away from the cage that night having suffered the first defeat of his career.
Since then however he’s gone 6-0 with five finishes including three kimura submissions and two knockouts, the most recent of which came in his UFC debut earlier this month when he KO’d a talented kickboxer in Phil Hawes, doing so in just over two minutes.
Then we have Costa, who since losing to Israel Adesanya in his title fight back in September of 2020, has gone 1-1, losing a unanimous decision to no. 3 ranked Marvin Vettori up at 205 lbs, and defeating former multi-organization (Strikeforce & UFC) middleweight champion Luke Rockhold when he returned last year in August.
Who do you see coming out on top in this epic middleweight contest going down at UFC 291?
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