Welterweights
Randy Brown (17-5, 11-5 UFC) vs. Muslim Salikhov (19-4, 6-3 UFC)ODDS: Brown (-245), Salikhov (+200)
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Salikhov makes for a particularly dangerous opponent against someone prone to slipping up, as the Russian is one of the more dangerous challenges Brown has faced to date. A multi-time world champion in wushu sanda, “The King of Kung Fu” came into the UFC with some considerable hype in 2017, though some of that fell by the wayside after a one-sided debut loss to Alex Garcia in which Salikhov’s takedown defense appeared to be a liability. However, Salikhov quickly patched that hole in his game and settled into a successful groove, rattling off a five-fight winning streak before hitting a ceiling at the fringes of the Top 15. Owing to his background, Salikhov favors a style built around accurate single strikes that sometimes struggles to win rounds, but—much like Brown—it still takes an excellent fighter to actually take advantage of his issues, and recent losses to Jingliang Li and Nicolas Dalby have aged quite well. Salikhov is nearing 40 years old, which does raise some worry heading into each of his fights going forward, but it seems guaranteed he will blast Brown at one point or another. It is just a question of whether or not that is enough to score a finish against an opponent much more capable of throwing out effective volume. Brown is historically quite durable, so he gets the nod, even if this figures to be a tense affair throughout. The pick is Brown via decision.
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Dolidze vs. Imavov
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Brown vs. Salikhov
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