Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev will lock heads in the main event of the UFC Vegas 50 which will be taking place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. In the preliminary card, UFC have placed a massive fight, where Tafon Nchukwi will be taking on Azamat Murzakanov in a light heavyweight match-up.
Nchukwi suffered his first professional loss in 2021 against Jun Yong Park but then ended his year on a win back at light heavyweight. The “Da Don” returned to light heavyweight against Mike Rodriguez and won the bout via an unanimous decision.
Russia’s Azamat Murzakanov earned his UFC contract last season on Dana White’s Contender Series when he knocked out Matheus Scheffel. The Russian fighter would be looking to keep his undefeated record of 10-0 intact.
Tafon Nchukwi vs Azamat Murzakanov Stats
Tafon Nchukwi
Win/Losses: 6/1
Height/Reach: 6 ft 0 inches/ 77 inches
Stance: Orthodox
Azamat Murzakanov
Win/Losses: 10/0
Height/Reach: 5 ft 10 inches/ 71 inches
Stance: Southpaw
Tafon Nchukwi vs Azamat Murzakanov Fight Breakdown and Prediction
Tafon Nchukwi is a pretty well rounded fighter. He has a tight guard, he’s well paced and likes to mix his techniques. One thing Nchukwi does well is finishing his combos with kicks. Nchukwi often pressures his opponents with constant forward motion and then unloads his combinations.
Azamat Murzakanov is a complete threat. Murzakanov possesses fantastic boxing prowess and with a background in combat sambo and freestyle wrestling, he’s to be feared wherever the fight goes. Murzakanov is also pretty bouncy on his feet and incredibly reactionary.
It’s actually quite a clash in styles, with Nchukwi being a plodding striker with good takedowns and cardio, and Murzakanov being a fast counter striker, capable of flurries and sambo style takedowns. The key determining factor here is Murzakanov’s reactionary style.
Nchukwi likes to unload on the body with repeated shovel style hooks when he gets in close on the cage. Whereas, if Murzakanov’s combat sambo background serves him right, he should be able to manipulate Nchukwi from the clinch quite easily.
