On a hot, sweltering night of fights in Abu Dhabi the fighters dealt with more than their opponents. This was a night full of action, and several fun fights that delivered with a lot of attention on the card. This article will be a inside look of what’s next for the fighters, and a in depth breakdown of whats next for the main card fighters.

Losing Fighters:
Prelims Losers

Fares Ziam: Rodrigo Vargas or Matt Wiman

Zak Cummings: Rodolfo Vieira or Oskar Piechota

Nordine Taleb: Erik Koch or Diego Sanchez

Takashi Sato: Mickey Gall or Sergey Khandozhko

Teemu Packalen: Danilo Belluardo or Charles Jourdain

Liana Jojua: Lara Procopio or Pannie Kianzad

Draw (Result)
Prelim Fighters:
Lerone Murphy: Gavin Tucker or Yoshinori Horie

Zubaira Tukhugov: Luiz Garagorri or Gabriel Benitez

Andrea Lee: Roxanne Modaferri or Lauren Murphy

Mairbek Taisumov: Davi Ramos or Vinc Pichel
Taisumov started early out pointing Carlos Ferreira on the feet with solid leg kicks. He was able to wobble with the uppercut in the first round and floored him with a leg kick. However, as the fight continued the pressure started to bother Taisumov as his defense on the feet and output diminished. Taisumov’s cardio started to fade, and was looking for one big shot as the fight progressed. He struggled bad in the third round with the pressure, and was repeatedly lit up on the feet fading fast. He struggled with the pressure, and didn’t have the gas tank of Carlos Ferreira.

Shamil Abdurakhimov: Aleksei Oleinik or Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Shamil didn’t seem to have an answer for the wrestling of Curtis. He was taken down and slammed multiple times in the first round. Everytime he got back to his feet he found himself grounded again. Abdurakhimov tried to fend off the takedowns, and landed some solid shots on the feet. However, the non stop attempts and pressure of Blaydes was simply too much to overcome. He just ran into a supreme wrestler who can take just about anyone down at will. In the second round Marc Goddard had seen enough and decided to halt the fight after some heavy ground strikes.

Davi Ramos: Mairbek Taisumov or Kharma Worthy
Ramos tried to push the pace, and be aggressive on the feet. However, he found himself on the wrong end of the striking. He did briefly drop Makhachev with a jab, but it seemed like more of a slip. Ramos was dropped in the third round, and tried to throw up submissions. However, he was never close to submitting Makhachev or putting him in danger. Ramos put up a solid effort against a bright young prospect, but came up a little short. Not his best, but not his worst performance against a stud in Islam Makhachev

Edson Barboza: Alexander Hernandez or Islam Makhachev
Barboza started well using his elite kicks to pepper the body and legs of Felder. He had some issues with the forward pressure of Felder, and found himself on the back foot early in the fight. His hand looked fast, and was able to crack Felder with some hard punches in the exchanges. This was an action packed high level muay that fight. Barboza surprised the masses by using a takedown to ground Felder landing some ground attacks. Barboza seemed to slow down quite a bit in round three. His attacks were much slower, and the forward pressure of Felder seemed to give him issues. This was a highly entertaining between two high level strikers. Was a very close and tough decision for the judges.

Dustin Poirier: Paul Felder or Al Iaquinta
Dustin did a nice job of scrambling in the grappling transitions. He struggled to defend the forward pressure and takedowns of Khabib. Khabib forced Poirier against the fence, and started to break him down in the clinch. Dustin landed some hard shots in the second round wobbling Khabib. However, Khabib continued to use his wrestling to ground the striker. Dustin just didn’t seem to have an answer for the many takedowns of Khabib. The non stop grappling put a toll on Dustin’s gas tank being forced to defend the wrestling. Dustin had a deep guillotine, but wasn’t able to finish it. He then had his back taken again, and was eventually forced to tap due to a rear naked choke. Poirier put an excellent effort forward, but Khabib’s grappling was just too much.

Winning Fighters:
Prelims Winners

Don Madge: Thiago Moisés or Devonte Smith

Omari Akhmedov: Karl Roberson or Gerald Meerschaert

Muslim Salikhov: Gilbert Burns or Alexey Kunchenko

Belal Muhammed: Elizeu dos Santos or Gilbert Burns

Ottman Azaitar: Roosevelt Roberts or Vinc Pichel

Sarah Moras: Pannie Kianzad or Karolline Cavedo

Joanne Calderwood: Liz Carmouche or Jessica Eye

Main Card Winners
Carlos Ferreira: Drew Dober or Nasrat Haqparast
Ferreira struggled early on with the speed and precision of Taisumov. He was trying to pressure forward with his strikes, but found himself on the wrong end of the striking. However, after the first Taisumov started to fade and his energy level decreased. Ferreira kept the forward pressure landing shot after shot. His jab and right hand were the key strikes in the fight for him. Carlos continued to work the body, and Taisumov found himself sitting back looking for a counter strike. Ferreira showed great pace, pressure, and cardio. He lit up Taisumov in the third round landing every shot at will. By far his best performance against a high level opponent. Pretty shocking to see the superior grappler out strike the Tiger Muay Thai specialist.

Curtis Blaydes: Junior dos Santos or Daniel Cormier
As usual, Blaydes dominated early quickly taking Abdurakhimov down landing ground and pound. Blaydes was able to land several massive takedowns using his superior strength and wrestling. At one point landing massive ground and pound from mount in the first round. The rest of the fight was much of the same. With Blaydes landing takedowns, using ground strikes, and being a step ahead in the transitions from the get go. This was another dominant wrestling heavy performance for Blaydes against an opponent who had been rolling. Blaydes finished the fight with ground strikes as Shamil simply couldn’t take anymore punishment.

Islam Makhachev: Charles Oliveira or Edson Barboza
Islam was somewhat tenative on the feet choosing to strike from distance. He landed some solid shots, and was able to avoid any major damage. He did his best work in round three landing a huge knee that dropped Ramos. He landed some solid ground and pound, and avoided the submission attempts of Ramos. Makhachev just seemed to be in control from the opening bell. This was a solid performance for Makhachev finding a way to win a comfortable decision. I expect him to get a step up in competition soon.

Paul Felder: Al Iaquinta or Dustin Poirier
Felder was much more aggressive with in the rematch. He pushed forward throwing heavy leather, and landing some stiff elbows in the clinch. He was opened up by a cut because of an accidental head but. He had success pressuring Barboza keeping him on the back foot. Felder had problems with the leg and body kicks of Barboza. Felder had Barboza briefly in trouble with an arm bar after being taken down. Felder seemed to take over in round three. Looking like the fresher fighter and continuing to push Barboza backwards. He landed some good combos on the feet with Edson’s return slowing down quite a bit. This was a grueling fight, and highly entertaining between two high level strikers. Felder’s forward pressure seemed to make the difference in this fight.

Khabib Nurmagomedov: Tony Ferguson or Georges St. Pierre
Khabib came out looking to wrestle and was able to land multiple takedowns. He took the back of Dustin, and landed some really hard ground and pound. Khabib uses his superior grappling and pressure to overwhelm Dustin early on. Khabib was briefly hurt in round two with some nice combos. Khabib just seemed to lean on the wrestling anytime he was in trouble. Khabib was caught in a guillotine, but found his way out of it. He eventually took the back once again, and finished Poirier with a tight rear naked choke. Khabib continues his dominance, and ends the fight still undefeated. Poirier put up a fight, but the grappling was too much. It remains to be seen if anyone can figure out how to stop Khabib.

Photo Credit: https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/ufc-242-odds-predictions-proven-mma-insider-picks-khabib-vs-poirier-barboza-vs-felder/