Remember these three names: Tatiana Suarez, Mike Malott, and Nurullo Aliev.
The card for UFC Vegas 70 calls for guaranteed violence. There are a few intriguing names strewn about the list that spectators and fans alike should be keeping a close eye on this weekend.
Three of them stand out above the rest.
Tatiana Suarez
Suarez hasn’t fought inside the UFC cage in more than three years, but she’ll be back this weekend against Montana De La Rosa in a new division where she’s a big question mark: flyweight.
The former Ultimate Fighter champion, who improved her career record to 9-0 with a unanimous decision over Nina Nunes at UFC 238, was in championship contention before her protracted break. The talented grappler, whose Olympic dreams were ended by thyroid cancer, had defeated Alexa Grasso and Carla Esparza in her last two fights, establishing herself as a serious contender and possible star in the strawweight division.
If Suarez stays healthy, this matchup with De La Rosa will serve as a wonderful gauge of where she stands and what can be expected of her moving ahead. Even though her results have been patchy throughout her UFC career, De La Rosa has remained competitive and improved despite having a 5-3-1 record in nine UFC appearances.
Suarez’s appearance this weekend is tough to predict, but it’s fantastic to see the undefeated fighter prepare to make the walk on Saturday night after several years of wondering when we’d see the Californian back in the Octagon.
Mike Malott
For the past few years, Malott hasn’t spent a lot of time in the cage, but he’s still left his mark.
An under two-minute submission of Solomon Renfro earned him a spot on Dana White’s Contender Series, while Shimon Smotrisky’s finish in 39 seconds earned him a UFC contract and a debut matchup with Mickey Gall at UFC 273. The Canadian welterweight ended the contest just over three and a half minutes in with a vicious left hook that sent Gall to the ground and secured Malott’s fourth straight victory.
Ten months later, the 31-year-old returns to the Octagon on Saturday in an all-Canadian matchup with Yohan Lainesse.
Malott has lost some of the momentum he gained from beating Gall, but with a similar effort this weekend, he may swiftly reclaim it and more. He’s one of those fighters who hasn’t had many fights — his career record is 8-1-1, but he is much more skilled and dangerous than his record might indicate. He’ll hopefully prove it once more on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Nurullo Aliev
This is the name I’m most curious about.
There have been a few contestants on each season of Dana White’s Contender Series so far who are capable of having an instant and lasting effect in their respective weight classes once they enter the UFC Octagon.
One of those Season 6 fighters is Aliev.
Aliev physically and facially resembles a young Khabib Nurmagomedov, and he obviously intends to use a strategy similar to that of the former lightweight champion. We will quickly learn where he belongs in the division despite his limited experience thus far in his career. He is currently 8-0 going into his debut against Rafael Alves this weekend.
Rafael Alves is the appropriate test.
The 32-year-old Alves, who has almost four times as much experience as his younger opponent this weekend, is a ball of explosive energy and fight-ending skills. Alves has made three appearances in the UFC and is 1-2 with defeats to Damir Ismagulov and Drew Dober sandwiching a victory over Marc Diakiese.
Although facing Alves is a challenging first test for Aliev, he showed impressive form during his previous trip to the UFC APEX and might move up in the lightweight category with a victory on Saturday.
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