UFC Vegas 87, which takes place this weekend (Sat., March 2, 2024) at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, took quite a few lumps in a very short amount of time, but will stagger over the finish line with 11 fights on the lineup and five hopefuls making their Octagon debuts. On this edition of “New Blood” — the series increasingly monopolized by Contender Series and short-notice call-ups — we checkout a top Kazakh prospect, two Contender Series graduates and a pair of last-minute replacements.
Bekzat Almakhan
Weight Class: Bantamweight
Age: 26
Record: 17-1 (13 KO, 2 SUB)
Notable Victories: Yan Ferraz, Mateus Gloria, Mauro Mastromarini
After falling to countryman Sultan Zholdoshbek uulu in the finals of a one-night tournament, Kazakhstan’s Almakhan battled his way to the top of Asia’s Bantamweight scene with nine consecutive victories. He last saw action in Nov. 2023, knocking out Yan Ferraz with just two seconds left on the clock.
Almakhan reminds me quite a bit of UFC Flyweight, David Dvorak. An upright, light-footed striker by trade, he primarily utilizes a mix of straight-punch flurries and heavy kicks. He’s at best on the counter — where he’ll meet oncoming foes with blistering right hands — and can land some nasty clinch knees when the opportunity arises.
His speed and power are absolutely legit — Mauro Mastromarini is the only one of his last six opponents to last the distance. And even he did a handful of interpretive dance routines after getting clocked by Almakhan’s right cross.
That said, he’s held back by two key issues.
The first is a tendency to throw naked kicks from punching distance. Beyond leaving him open with counters, it also exposes his hips, which Ferraz took advantage of to shoot multiple deep takedowns. The second and more debilitating is how linear he is when forced to lead. Almakhan almost exclusively charges in straight lines with his chin in the air, a habit made worse by his love of the lead right uppercut.
Mastromarini busted his face open by meeting him on the way in with an elbow, while subsequent foe Mateus Gloria came within inches of a first-round knockout by punishing the uppercut with a step-back right hook. I’ve talked before about fighters being better hammers than nails, but Almakhan is genuinely far more vulnerable when he’s the one initiating the action.
Though it’s not his primary weapon, Almakhan’s wrestling may be his best asset. He shoots an excellent double-leg that’s bailed him out of more than one disaster and has an array of clinch trips if that doesn’t do the trick. His defense is even more impressive. Indeed, even if opponents do capitalize on those naked kicks to get in on his hips, he does a great job of sprawling and/or out-scrambling them to take a dominant position.
His Brazilian jiu-jitsu isn’t quite as developed. Almakhan isn’t a particularly good guard passer; on the contrary, most of the time he’s happy to drop punches and elbows from full guard before bailing once his opponent gets too squirrely. Those shots are admittedly heavy when he commits to letting them go, though, so he’s not one to relax under.
The current Almakhan peaks around the middle- or upper-middle of the Bantamweight pack. If he can correct some of his bad habits, which he has time to do at just 26, his power and wrestling could potentially earn him a number next to his name. He’ll have to settle for a loss in his UFC debut, though, because he leaves way too many openings to beat a versatile finisher like Umar Nurmagomedov.
AJ “The Savage” Cunningham
Weight Class: Featherweight/Lightweight
Age: 29
Record: 11-3 (4 KO, 4 SUB)
Notable Victories: None
Cunningham rode a 6-1 record into Contender Series, where he succumbed to Steven Nguyen’s power late in the second round. He returned to action three months later to notch a first round finish of <.500 Justice Lamparez in Dec. 2023.
Oppressive output is Cunningham’s claim to fame. Leaning on a gas tank that let him throw nearly 300 strikes in two rounds against Nguyen, he’s at his most comfortable rushing in with lengthy punching flurries to the head and body, punctuated by solid knees and a surprisingly sneaky right elbow in the clinch. If the blitzes don’t work, he also boasts solid low kicks and an array of spinning techniques.
Issues arise when he can’t overwhelm opponents. Cunningham almost exclusively attacks in straight lines, keeps his hands too low, leaves his chin exposed, likes to lead with unsafe uppercuts, and tends to literally rush in with his punches. All of these combine to make him extremely vulnerable to return fire; Jason Mullen walked him into a gnarly spinning elbow three fights ago and Nguyen, who spent the entire fight mutilating Cunningham with the jab, knocked him unconscious in a first-round exchange before brutalizing him in the second.
To make matters worse, Cunningham’s speed seems to drop off after the first round. He can still throw out eye-catching amounts of volume, but there’s visibly less oomph on his shots.
His grappling is admittedly pretty sharp, though. Though not much of an offensive takedown threat, he has very strong hips and can take the back in an instant if his opponent gives him the opportunity. That said, his bottom game still needs work, as Mullen’s one successful takedown let him secure the back and then mount before Cunningham could scramble free.
Cunningham is just too hittable to make any kind of run at 145- or 155-pounds. I can see him overpowering some grapplers thanks to his pace and takedown defense, but competent strikers are going to tear him apart. Unfortunately for him, debut foe Ludovit Klein is more than competent on the feet.
His Fury and Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) bouts are on Fight Pass.
Vinicius “Lok Dog” Oliveira
Weight Class: Bantamweight
Age: 28
Record: 19-3 (15 KO, 2 SUB)
Notable Victories: Victor Madrigal, Hikaru Yoshida, Sultan Zholdoshbek uulu
Oliveira claimed UAE Warriors gold in his third bout with the promotion, but only managed one successful defense before losing a slugfest against undefeated Ali Taleb. Undaunted, he returned to the win column before heading to Contender Series and slumping Victor Madrigal with a monstrous left hook.
Take Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, shrink him to 135 pounds, give him nasty leg kicks and ability to actually bounce back from adversity, and you get “Lok Dog.” Outside of his flicking jab and those stinging, well-timed calf kicks that he lands both as leads and while back-stepping, he’s a flat-footed power hitter who throws like he wants to punch clean through his opponent’s skull and maybe take out a cornerman or two with the shockwave. There’s a sort of violent flow to his approach; he’ll unload a flurry so hard that he ends up leaning all the way to one side, then use the momentum of swinging back to power up an arcing head kick.
When he’s feeling himself, Oliveira is a terror, gifted with power, good timing and the motor to throw heat for multiple rounds. He can, however, get a bit too into it. Oliveira tends to keep his hands low and rely on head movement to avoid his opponents’ punches, which generally works thanks to his reflexes, but that’s only when he’s not throwing. Taleb took advantage of Oliveira’s tendency to swing his whole upper body by firing a jab, letting Oliveira load up on a counter right, then meeting his incoming head with a perfect overhand of his own to knock him silly.
This is actually a recurring issue, as Adriano Ramos slept “Lok Dog” with one punch in virtually the exact same scenario 3.5 years prior.
For as wild as he is, Oliveira’s at his best when there’s at least some modicum of control. If he keeps the jab in his opponent’s face, consistently punishes their lead leg, and limits himself to properly thrown combos instead of straightening his arms and windmilling for his life, he’s got what it takes to give just about any Bantamweight hell.
He just has to keep his head.
Like “Cowboy,” Oliveira possesses some strong grappling to back up the brawling, though he almost exclusively uses it either defensively or after hurting his opponent with punches. Judoka Hikaru Yoshino hit a slick throw on Oliveira, but only managed a few seconds of top control before Oliveira used butterfly guard to make space and stand. Oliveira then shut down every subsequent throw before putting Yoshino down with strikes.
As I said, there’s a contender here if Oliveira can tamp down the ego and brawling instincts. Even in a division as loaded as 135 pounds, his blend of genuine power and quality grappling stands out. He’s in for a tricky debut against well-rounded finisher Bernardo Sopaj, but his size, low kicks and power should carry him to victory.
His UAE Warriors bouts are on Fight Pass.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Bernardo “The Lion King” Sopaj
Weight Class: Bantamweight
Age: 23
Record: 11-2 (7 KO, 3 SUB)
Notable Victories: Tariq Ismail
“The Lion King” — who made his professional debut at just 15 — started his career with six consecutive finishes before hitting a 2-2 skid. He’s since won three straight, all of them inside two rounds.
He steps in for Yanis Ghemmouri on less than one week’s notice.
As expected from an Allstars product, Sopaj is a dangerous, well-rounded finisher with a remarkably seasoned game for his age. He’s largely a light-footed striker, relying on heavy single kicks and short, sharp boxing combinations. Those kicks are powerful enough to floor opponents through their guard — as seen against Karlen Minasian three fights back — and his timing, speed and power were sufficient to slump Julien Pierre Lopez with a single counter right.
On top of that, he’s equally adept from either stance. Critically, unlike a lot of switch-hitters, he does a good job of disguising those switches with punches or kicks from the rear side.
Lack of head movement and naked kicks are his big bugbears at the moment. Sopai tends to attack in straight lines with his chin up; in his last defeat back in 2021, Francesco Nuzzi took advantage of this to repeatedly tag him as Sopai stepped in to throw. That fight also showed Sopai’s tendency to dip to his right when backing up under fire, which Nuzzi dialed in on to come dangerously close with head kicks.
Overall, though, he’s as sharp a 23-year-old striker as you’re likely to see.
On the grappling side, he boasts a strong reactive double-leg and can control opponents for minutes at a time if he secures a body lock. His takedown defense is generally stout, and the one time I saw him planted on his back after a heroic struggle against the fence, he immediately used butterfly hooks to make space and get to his feet.
As for his top game, he seems more into control than strikes unless he’s attacking opponents on the way up.
I’ve got high hopes for Sopai, who has all the tools he needs to be a future contender at 135 pounds. He’s in for what looks like a difficult debut against heavy hitter Vinicius Oliveira; Sopai’s counter right will be a lethal weapon in this matchup, but he’s also open to low kicks and will be the much smaller man of the two.
His FCR bouts are on Fight Pass.
Abdul-Kareem “Pride of Palestine” Al-Selwady
Weight Class: Lightweight
Age: 28
Record: 15-3 (8 KO, 2 SUB)
Notable Victories: George Hardwick, Lucas Martins
Fortis MMA’s Al-Selwady put a pair of knockout losses behind him to win four straight, including a decision over Michael Murphy to claim Fury FC’s Lightweight title. He entered his Contender Series bout with George Hardwick as a sizeable underdog, but put together a complete performance to claim both the upset and a UFC contract.
While I’m making comparisons, Al-Selwady brings to mind Bassil Hafez in terms of dramatic technical turnarounds. Watching his fight with Murphy, it’s easy to see why the bookies felt Hardwick would win handily. Al-Selwady was essentially a pure grinder — he’d circle to his right and flick out inside low kicks until Murphy overcommitted, then take him down and scythe through his guard. His wrestling and top game were impressive, but he didn’t exactly jump off the page.
He looked like a completely different fighter six months later. Al-Selwady put on a terrific display of outfighting against a vaunted striker, using constant feints, stance switches, and changes of directions to potshot with clean combos and get away before Hardwick could respond. Al-Selwady walked Hardwich into numerous heavy counters and held his own on the feet even when Hardwick found his timing and began catching him in exchanges.
It’s a remarkably effective approach, especially for someone who generally gives up reach: harass them with volume, sit down on heavier counters when they commit to cutting off the cage, and fire the double-leg if they get too far inside.
I also want to point out that Al-Selwady’s knockout defeats don’t necessarily mean he has a bad chin. They were a spinning elbow and a Moraes vs. Sterling-esque knee to the face, respectively, and they would have knocked out anyone. He ate enough clean shots from Hardwick that I’m prepared to call him durable.
I really like what I saw out of Al-Selwady. Having missed watching the Hardwick fight live, I was prepared to write him off as a bog-standard ground-and-pounder after suffering through his slog against Murphy, but he showed a ton of skill and composure on DWCS. Though he may not be much of a finisher, I can see him potentially hitting the bottom edge of the rankings.
As for his debut, I like his chances against Loik Radzhabov. Al-Selwady’s wrestling seems like it measures up to “The Tajik Tank’s,” while his footwork and overall striking skills are a step above. His adeptness with low kicks should also serve him well considering how thoroughly Mateusz Rebecki wrecked Radzhabov’s leg last time out.
His Fury bouts are on Fight Pass.
LIVE! Stream UFC Vegas 87 On ESPN+
’BIGI BOY’ BRAWL! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to its APEX venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., March 2, 2024, with a Heavyweight showdown between knockout artist and former kickboxing standout, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, welcoming undefeated Contender Series signee, Shamil Gaziev (11-0), to the Octagon proper. In UFC Vegas 87’s ESPN+-streamed co-main event, undefeated Vitor Petrino (10-0) looks to keep his perfect record intact at the expense of the once highly-touted Tyson Pedro in a Light Heavyweight scrap.
Don’t miss a single second of face-punching action!
