Preview: UFC 296 Prelims

Flyweights

#12 FLW | Tagir Ulanbekov (14-2, 3-1 UFC) vs. #15 FLW | Cody Durden (16-4-1, 5-2-1 UFC)

ODDS: Ulanbekov (-170), Durden (+142)

The flyweight division is as deep as ever, and a well-matched fight here sees two 125-pounders vie for a spot at the edge of the promotional rankings. Ulanbekov has about the game you would expect for a Dagestani fighter coming out of the Khabib Nurmagomedov camp. He is a patient and well-schooled striker, but his entire game is built around wrestling and asserting control. Ulanbekov is technically sound, but his fights at the UFC level have typically wound up messier than the Russian would probably prefer thanks to his lack of high-level athleticism. He is a slow fighter in the UFC’s fastest division, making for a lot of points where Ulanbekov struggles to lock his opponents down. However, he has still gutted out the win more often than not—even his lone UFC loss to Tim Elliott was a controversial one—and he looks to walk away with one more against Durden.

Durden came to the UFC in 2020 as a decent prospect with wins over a particularly weak slate of regional competition, so it is understandable that he would struggle with the transition up a few levels. Durden was able to keep up his success on offense with a strong wrestling game, but he was defensively unprepared for opponents that could bring something to the table, walking himself into quick finishes multiple times near the start of his UFC career. However, Durden has at least gained enough awareness to not be a complete defensive liability, even if there are still some issues with his game. He will fight hard for three rounds with an emphasis on takedowns, but he does tend to tire himself out and force himself to fight through some bad positions. Durden should find some early success since he is the faster fighter in what figures to be a race to the first takedown, but it is unclear where it goes from there. Both men struggle without a clear wrestling and grappling advantage, and while Durden is the more potent force right out of the gate, he is also much likelier to tire after a few minutes of hard scrambling. Ulanbekov gets the nod as the more consistent fighter, though it would not be a shock if his comeback was too little too late. The pick is Ulanbekov via close decision.

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