Countdown of the week's best UFC & PFL fights: #7-8

Val Dewar

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Countdown of the week's best UFC & PFL fights: #7-8 image

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8. Matheus Nicolau vs Assu Almabayev

Although Matheus Nicolau has been criticized at times for his passive and technical fighting style, one cannot deny his skill, though recent performances have not gone his way.

His Kazakh foe, Assu Almabayev, will be one who will force the action. He is aggressive on the feet, but the real goal is to set up his shots to take the fight to the ground, where he truly excels.

However, Nicolau is an adept defensive wrestler and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so I expect many high paced scrambles in a matchup between two of the most skilled fighters in one of the most skilled divisions.

Either man could win, and Nicolau being the toughest test ever for this fast-rising fighter who has not lost since 2017 makes this competitive matchup highly compelling.

 

7. Raufeon Stots vs Marcos Breno

Former Bellator interim bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots will fight for the first time under the Professional Fighters League banner when he takes on fellow Bellator alumnus Marcus Breno.

Breno may be nine years Stots' junior, but he just lost to Danny Sabatello, the man Raufeon beat twice. As a scary Brazilian knockout artist who has several men out cold in his wake, he will always be dangerous. Raufeon is more willing to engage on the feet than Sabatello, so there is always a chance he gets finished, but he should have an advantage over Breno overall.

Bantamweight is the most skilled division in the world, and this fight is no exception. For a fight to be this good on the prelims shows how much better the new PFL/Bellator roster is, and how much better it can be if they truly combine the two instead of running them separately.

Val Dewar

Val Dewar Photo

Val was initiated into Steelers Nation from the moment he was born — his first memory is a game vs. New England from when "Slash" was QB — and doing sports writing has always been a dream career for him. In 2022 he broke into the industry by writing about combat sports for Cageside Press, and now has the opportunity to continue that work with TSN as an MMA writer, as well as get his feet wet on the Steelers beat.