The Rookies: UFC on ESPN 54

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Ibo Aslan now gets his chance to put down some roots in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“The Last Ottoman” will make his promotional debut opposite Anton Turkalj when their light heavyweight rematch buoys the UFC on ESPN 54 undercard this Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Aslan enters the Octagon on the strength of four straight wins, all of them first-round finishes. However, he suffered his only career defeat to Turkalj in 2020, as he bowed to a rear-naked choke from the 6-foot-4 Swede in the second round of their encounter under the Brave Combat Federation banner.

Aslan booked his spot on the UFC roster on Aug. 15, when he wiped out onetime Inside Fighters League champion Paulo Renato Jr. with first-round punches on Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series. Renato Jr. checked out 2:22 into Round 1, suffering his first stoppage loss in 15 professional appearances. Neither man seemed willing to lead the dance initially, though that changed in a hurry. Aslan connected with a clubbing right hook at short range, backed the Brazilian toward the fence and flurried with punches. Renato Jr. collapsed under duress and offered no intelligent defense from a seated position at the base of the fence, leaving the referee no choice but to intervene on his behalf.

“I am coming here to knock this guy out, and I do it in the first round,” Aslan said at the post-fight press conference. “For me, it doesn’t matter. I can fight all three rounds, but I want to finish the fight early. That was the plan, and I do it.”

The 27-year-old Aslan operates out of Xtreme Couture, though he has spent time in the past honing his skills at Gym 23, the UFC Performance Institute and Tiger Muay Thai. All 12 of his of his professional victories have come by knockout or technical knockout.

“This is just the beginning,” Aslan said. “The future is big.”

UFC on ESPN 54 features two other organizational rookies in featherweight Connor Matthews and bantamweight Angel Pacheco. Like Aslan, they were assigned to the prelims.

Matthews, 31, carries a 7-1 mark into his featherweight clash against Dennis Buzukja. The New England Cartel rep punched his ticket to the UFC in October, when he laid claim to a three-round unanimous decision over Jair Farias on Week 10 of DWCS. Matthews has four sub-minute finishes to his credit, though his strength of schedule—the seven men he has beaten sport a combined record of 39-148—leaves something to be desired.

Pacheco, meanwhile, faces former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Caolan Loughran in his first Octagon assignment. The 32-year-old trains out of the Start Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in St. Cloud, Minnesota, about an hour’s drive from the Twin Cities. Pacheco was awarded a UFC contract after he dropped a unanimous decision to Danny Silva in a memorable firefight on Week 8 of DWCS on Sept. 26, the setback snapping his three-fight winning streak. All seven of his victories have resulted in finishes, four of them inside one round.