Preview: UFC Fight Night 209 Prelims

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s long-awaited debut in Paris took some hits in the weeks leading up to the event, but UFC Fight Night 209 still provides an entertaining slate of prelims on Saturday at Accor Arena. Promotional newcomer Abusupiyan Magomedov meets Dustin Stoltzfus in the featured slot, but the clear highlight of the undercard can be found a bit further down, where adopted Frenchman Nassourdine Imavov looks to defend his ranking against Joaquin Buckley in an excellently matched middleweight bout. From there, it is all about some action, along with some solid French representation on home soil: In addition to Imavov, Fares Ziam makes his return to the Octagon, and submission artist Benoit St. Denis is scheduled to compete.

Now to the preview for the UFC Fight Night 209 “Gane vs. Tuivasa” prelims:

Middleweights

Abusupiyan Magomedov (24-4-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Dustin Stoltzfus (14-4, 1-3 UFC)

ODDS: Magomedov (-265), Stoltzfus (+225)

It is time to see if Magomedov’s UFC debut is worth the considerable wait. Born in Dagestan but now a resident of Germany, Magomedov looked like a strong signing for the UFC in 2021. After making it to the middleweight final of the Professional Fighters League’s inaugural season in 2018, Magomedov rebounded with two straight finishes. However, since his signing, Magomedov’s inability to make it to the cage has been a bit of a running joke, with his debut getting scrapped on three separate dates due to issues on his end. Even this fight sees a late opponent change, as a fellow adopted German in Stoltzfus steps in for Makhmud Muradov as Magomedov’s first UFC obstacle. Born in Pennsylvania, Stoltzfus put together a solid resume on the German scene but struggled to find his first UFC win. Most of Stoltzfus’s pre-UFC success came when he was able to fall back on his wrestling, which made it a bit cruel that the UFC continued to match him with talented grapplers. Stoltzfus still put up a game effort in each bout but consistently found himself losing in the end. However, the fourth time was the charm against Dwight Grant—an opponent who finally let Stoltzfus do what he does best—and he looks to keep up that momentum with a quick turnaround here. This appears to be a tough ask, though. Magomedov is an aggressive fighter who is willing to march down his opponents with some powerful striking and backs it up with some solid wrestling. His defense can sometimes go out the window when focusing on that aggression, but Stoltzfus does not look to be the type of fighter who can exploit any individual opportunity enough to score a sudden finish. The pick is Magomedov via decision.

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Figlak vs. Ziam
Imavov vs. Buckley
St. Denis vs. Miranda
Taha vs. Quinonez
Egger vs. Perez