Preview: UFC on ESPN 22 ‘Whittaker vs. Gastelum’

Middleweights

NR | Abdul Razak Alhassan (10-3, 4-3 UFC) vs. NR | Jacob Malkoun (4-1, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Alhassan (-300), Malkoun (+250)

Alhassan is what he is at this point. “Judo Thunder” came to the UFC riding a striking of quick knockouts, and his career in the Octagon played out with a relatively simple dynamic: Alhassan would throw absolute heat and either score a first-round knockout or tire himself out on his way to a loss. It still proved to be a shockingly successful approach through his 2018 win over Niko Price, but after nearly two years away from the cage due to some troubling legal issues, the tide has turned against Alhassan. His return fight played out in his typical losing fashion, as he came out guns blazing against Mounir Lazzez but was unable to score a finish and lost as a result. His most recent bout, a November affair against Kalinn Williams, saw him shockingly get blasted in just 30 seconds. Alhassan looks to stop his slide against Malkoun, who is looking to rebound from a disappointing UFC debut. A training partner of Robert Whittaker, Malkoun showed a decent enough game on the Australian regional scene but was obviously not ready for the UFC at the time he got the call in 2020. Indeed, Malkoun’s promotional debut was over in just 18 seconds, as he suffered a quick knockout at the hands of Phil Hawes. This should, unfortunately, be a similar story for Malkoun. He has the right ideas about a lot of things and is well-rounded enough to make this interesting if he can outlast his opponent’s early salvo, but once again, the fight does not figure to make it that far down the road. The pick is Alhassan via first-round knockout.

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