Pereira looks to get 2025 off on the right foot in this outing.
Pereira was a highly touted signing by the UFC in 2019, mostly
thanks to entertainment potential than any thought that “Demolidor”
could become a contender. The Brazilian had one of the best
highlight reels in the sport, full of backflips and other highly
athletic maneuvers that most fighters wouldn’t even think to try,
let alone be able to attempt. Pereira’s first three UFC fights
basically summed up the experience. He obliterated Danny
Roberts, gassed himself out before losing a decision against a
natural featherweight in Tristan
Connelly, then got himself disqualified against Diego
Sanchez. The Sanchez loss seemed to cause Pereira to finally
re-evaluate things, dulling his entertainment value for a bit but
allowing him to find his footing as a consistently effective
fighter, as he leveraged his size and speed into a more patient
approach that allowed him to pick apart his opponents and
neutralize them from range. As it turned out, Pereira’s greatest
difficulty at welterweight wound up being the scale, as consistent
weight issues forced him to move to middleweight, where he has
truly blossomed. Whether it’s slower opposition or Pereira being
unburdened by the weight cut, his time at 185 pounds has been
absolutely electric and filled with explosive first-round
finishes—at least until his last fight, a main event that saw
Anthony
Hernandez barely survive his opening blitz but outlast him to
pour on an extended beating for the better part of four and a half
rounds. Still, Pereira should be able to cause most of the
middleweight division a lot of problems, and the comeback trail
starts against Magomedov.
There was a point where Magomedov looked like he might just become
best known as a strange footnote on the UFC’s main event ledger. He
was a solid veteran with over a decade’s worth of experience ahead
of his Octagon debut, but it was still a shock when a quick
knockout win in that appearance resulted in his being given a main
event spot against Sean
Strickland. The Strickland fight and a subsequent loss to
Caio
Borralho fit into Magomedov’s scouting report as someone who
could get off to a hot start but peter out down the stretch.
Magomedov has done well to adapt and coast out his last two wins,
using a wrestling- and grappling-heavy approach to handle Warlley
Alves and Brunno
Ferreira without much difficulty. The openings are there to do
the same against Pereira, but as always, the Brazilian’s opponent
will have to survive a hellacious beating to get there. While it’s
a coinflip, the lean is that Magomedov won't be up to that task.
The pick is Pereira via first-round knockout.
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