Preview: UFC Fight Night 209 ‘Gane vs. Tuivasa’

Lightweights

Nasrat Haqparast (13-5, 5-4 UFC) vs. John Makdessi (18-7, 11-7 UFC)

ODDS: Haqparast (-230), Makdessi (+195)

It would be nice if Haqparast finally turned a corner. He has been particularly frustrating during his five years on the UFC roster thanks to how much of a blue-chip talent he appeared to be upon his promotional debut. While he lost a decision in a game effort against Marcin Held, that was the latest performance in a string of fights that saw the then-22-year-old improve greatly each time out. Haqparast’s sophomore effort saw him show a layered striking effort in a dominant win over fellow top talent Marc Diakiese, and so the expectation was that the Afghan-German would rocket up the lightweight rankings. While Haqparast has had his bright spots, he has essentially plateaued in the years since. Haqparast is still a winning fighter on his natural talent but tends to lean on that way too much and has little regard for what his opponent can bring in return. That is all well and good against the likes of Alex Munoz and Rafa Garcia—they were clearly outgunned by Haqparast—but there seems to have been little adjustment since his 2020 flash knockout loss to Drew Dober. Facing prime veteran opponents such as Dan Hooker and Bobby Green, Haqparast quickly ran out of ideas and found himself on the losing end of some clear decisions. With that said, Haqparast is still just 27 and could eventually click into something special through sheer experience. However, he will probably still take the hardest path possible to find a win against Makdessi.

It has been a strange career for Makdessi. “The Bull” came to the UFC in 2010 as a flashy striker who lived up to his hype early but quickly hit a ceiling. While Makdessi was obviously well-practiced, being a range striker while also having one of the stockiest frames in the lightweight division figured to have its limitations. Makdessi found his success here and there, but after a 2016 knockout loss to Lando Vannata capped off a rough stretch, the consensus seemed to be that the Canadian would start his late-career slide; instead, Makdessi has won four of his five fights since. Unfortunately, that stretch has been marked by inactivity—in terms of injuries preventing Makdessi from making the trip to the cage, as well as his oft-unwillingness to pull the trigger. Wins over Ross Pearson and Ignacio Bahamondes have shown that while Makdessi prefers to keep the pace slow by default, an opponent willing to press the issue can force him to hold his own in an absolute war. This figures to be that type of fight, as Haqparast is content to keep moving forward while throwing out offense, even to his own detriment. While Haqparast figures to get clipped in return, his speed and power should see him through this test, along with the possibility that he can pivot to wrestling if things turn south. It will be more difficult than it needs to be, but the pick is Haqparast via decision.

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Gane vs. Tuivasa
Whittaker vs. Vettori
Di Chirico vs. Kopylov
Haqparast vs. Makdessi
Gomis vs. Errens
Jourdain vs. Wood
The Prelims