Light Heavyweights
Raffael Cerqueira (11-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Ibo Aslan (13-1, 1-0 UFC)UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway Saturday at 2 PM ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
This should be a fun fight to help sort things out near the bottom of the light heavyweight division. Aslan’s approach generally consists of one idea—punching his opponents very hard—but the Turkish fighter has some potential to make a rise through the ranks at 205 pounds. Aslan’s clearly a standout in terms of knockout power, and he has developed a solidly effective level of patience over the course of his career, which is best evidenced by his two bouts against Anton Turkalj. Aslan’s lone professional loss saw him burn his gas tank out hunting for a knockout and eventually get overwhelmed, but the two met three and a half years later in Aslan’s UFC debut after the Turk earned a contract on the Contender Series. This time around, Aslan picked his spots and eventually scored the third-round knockout. It was one of the longest fights of Aslan’s career, and his cardio didn’t look the best in the process, but if he can keep fine-tuning things and carrying that power into multiple rounds, it could be enough to get a big string of knockouts going. After dispatching of Turkalj in March, Aslan’s sophomore effort comes against a UFC newcomer in Cerqueira, who was tabbed for this most recent edition of the Contender Series before getting signed outright.
Recent film of Cerqueira shows him to be a fairly straightforward knockout artist, and he should have some impressive size for the division, as he looked large even while competing at heavyweight in his last few bouts. It’s hard to glean much in what should be a race to a finish, but Aslan’s power seems like the surest bet here. The pick is Aslan via second-round knockout.
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