Preview: UFC on ESPN 58 ‘Perez vs. Taira’

Flyweights

Asu Almabaev (19-2, 2-0 UFC) vs. Jose Johnson (16-8, 1-1 UFC)

ODDS: Almabaev (-470), Johnson (+360)

The UFC’s flyweight division has added some potentially high-level talent over the last few years, and Kazakhstan’s Almabaev is certainly on that list. Almabaev’s success is a fairly simple proposition at this point, as he’s a quick athlete with a lightning-fast wrestling game. Almabaev has also shown the grappling chops to get things done—revisit his UFC debut against Ode Osbourne in August—though a decision win over C.J. Vergara also proved he can lock down a fight if needed. It’ll be interesting to see how Almabaev fares if he gets locked out of the best parts of his game, but it’s unclear if that’ll happen here against Johnson.

Johnson was on the fringes of a UFC callup for years before finally earning a contract in 2022, and he figures to bring some entertaining chaos to the proceedings as a reedy and aggressive fighter with some questionable defense. That has proven true through two UFC fights. He left himself open for a rare twister to get tapped out by Da’Mon Blackshear in his UFC debut but found his own late submission in a wild back-and-forth war against Chad Anheliger in November. The big headline in this pairing? Johnson, who at 6-foot tall was already one of the tallest bantamweights on the roster, cuts another 10 pounds to fight at flyweight. Even beyond the medical concerns, Johnson’s questionable takedown defense at 135 pounds seems like an even bigger liability against someone able to force the issue as quickly as Almabaev. The pick is Almabaev via first-round submission.

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Perez vs. Taira
Aliskerov vs. Trocoli
Cuamba vs. Almeida
Johns vs. Silva de Andrade
Almabaev vs. Johnson
Quinlan vs. Fugitt
The Prelims