The undefeated Russian will continue in his quest for a second championship in three years when he faces Tyler Diamond in the PFL 4 co-headliner on Thursday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. Khaybulaev steps into the cage on the strength of a six-fight winning streak, a 20-0-1 record in tow. He last appeared at PFL 1, where he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Ryoji Kudo on April 1. Diamond, meanwhile, fills in as a short-notice replacement for Daniel Torres, who was booted from the season over a failed drug test. Diamond has not fought since June 10, 2021, when he dropped a majority decision to Brendan Loughnane at PFL 4.
As Khaybulaev and Diamond march toward their looming battle at 145 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
32: Years of age for Khaybulaev, who was born on Oct. 16, 1990 in Makhachkala, Russia.
6: Khaybulaev wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 30% of his career total (20). His list of victims includes Damon Jackson, Vugar Bakhshiev and Vladimir Egoyan. Khaybulaev holds two other wins by submission (10%) and 12 more by decision (60%).
10: Seconds needed for Khaybulaev to bring down Jackson with a flying knee at PFL 2 on May 23, 2019. More than four years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
40: Rounds completed by Khaybulaev as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 13 different occasions and carries a 12-0-1 record in those bouts.
118: Combined victories between the six opponents—Kudo, Jackson, Loughnane, Chris Wade, Lance Palmer and Lazar Stojadinovic—Khaybulaev has defeated as a member of the PFL roster. They sport a cumulative .753 winning percentage at 118-38-2.
32: Years of age for Diamond, who was born on March 18, 1991 in Oroville, California.
2: Diamond victories by submission, accounting for 16% of his career total. His methods of choice: one rear-naked choke and one bulldog choke. Diamond owns five other victories by knockout or technical knockout (42%) and five more by decision (42%).
13: Significant strikes by which Diamond outlanded Bryce Mitchell in a contentious majority decision loss at “The Ultimate Fighter 27” Finale on July 6, 2018. He was credited with 51 such strikes, while Mitchell registered only 38 of them.
9: Organizations for which Diamond has plied his mixed martial arts trade. In addition to his 1-1 mark in the PFL, he has gone 4-0 in Global Knockout, 2-0 in King of the Cage, 1-0 in the Legacy Fighting Alliance, 1-0 in Tachi Palace Fights, 1-0 in the West Coast Fighting Championship, 1-0 in Gladiator Challenge, 1-0 in PureCombat and 0-1 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
.891: Cumulative winning percentage between the two opponents—Loughnane and Mitchell—who have beaten Diamond. They boast a combined record of 41-5.