Sean Strickland vs. Abus Magomedov – Preview and Prediction
Sean Strickland and Abus Magomedov will make the last walk to the octagon this weekend when they square off in the main event of UFC Vegas 76.
The card features a few fun fights, but as always, Strickland will be providing most of the entertainment throughout the week with way with words.
MyMMANews knows first hand how entertaining Strickland is on the microphone after interviewing him in late May.
Now here we are on fight week and ahead of the matchup, let’s take a deeper look at the fight with a preview and a prediction. The full preview can also be seen in the video above.
Breakdown
Strickland is as active as they come. The guy loves too fight and he’s good at it too.
Not only is Strickland active in his career, but he is also training with high level middleweights, light heavyweights and heavyweights whenever he steps foot inside of the gym at Xtreme Couture.
He also recently teamed up with his former opponent and former UFC middleweight champ Alex Pereira for a few training session.
Magomedov on the other hand is a bit of an unknown for UFC fans.
He has only had one fight so far and he picked up a quick TKO win in his only appearance. The KO power has been consistent throughout his career and he’s known for finishing fights.
Tale of the Tape
As close to identical as you can get. Records are similar. Age is the same. Height and reach might as well be the same, but they favor Magomedov by an inch.
Oddsmakers
Close one with the oddsmakers, but the give Strickland the slight nod as DraftKings (Strickland -175, Magomedov +150), FanDuel (Strickland +166, Magomedov +130), Bet MGM (Strickland +175, Magomedov +145) and Unibet (Strickland -180, Magomedov +143) all are on the side of Strickland.
Prediction
Experience favors Strickland big time and maybe the deciding factor here.
He’s had plenty of UFC fights throughout three weight classes and between his training and live in fight experiences, there’s nothing you can throw at him that he hasn’t seen.
Magomedov has power and that is always a dangerous factor in a fight, but Strickland typically doesn’t get knocked out, except for in a recent fight against Pereira, who also won the title by a knockout.
Outside of the power, we don’t know too much about Magomedov, but we do know Strickland is tough and durable and isn’t afraid to scrap.
Strickland gets the win in this one by a decision.