Preview: UFC Vegas 101 Prelims

Light Heavyweights

Magomed Gadzhiyasulov (9-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Bruno Lopes (13-1, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Gadzhiyasulov (-225), Lopes (+185)

Gadzhiyasulov is an interesting prospect in a light heavyweight division that’s always in need of talent, though the Russian does need to make up for lost time. It took Gadzhiyasulov about a decade to get his career going in earnest, as he spent years as an amateur and then ran over some underwhelming competition once he turned professional. The end result of that is Gadzhiyasulov being more poised than expected against competition that refused to go away, as he put in fairly complete performances to win decisions both on and immediately prior to the Contender Series. Gadzhiyasulov’s UFC debut proper, a June win over Brendson Ribeiro, confirmed that the end result might not be all that exciting, but he can do a solid job of leveraging his size, speed and skill into neutralizing his opponents, whether through outstriking them from range or simply by embracing the grind. Gadzhiyasulov faces his second straight Brazilian here in Lopes, who earned a contract in 2024 in his second shot on the Contender Series. Lopes has a solid enough process, applying some slow-paced pressure in the hopes of outlasting his opponents and possessing a better submission game than you might expect from a light heavyweight. However, there is the worry that he might be a non-athlete stuck in what has historically been an athlete’s division, at least at a high level. Illustrating that point, Lopes’ lone loss came in his 2023 Contender Series fight against Ribeiro, an aggressive brawler who was able to score a sudden knockout with some wild offense. Gadzhiyasulov doesn’t figure to be quite that dangerous, and Lopes does have a path to victory if he can find one or two takedowns. With that said, the Russian does read as the better athlete and someone who can outlast Lopes, even if it winds up as a bit of a slog. The pick is Gadzhiyasulov via decision.

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