The UFC is putting two of its hottest bantamweight prospects in the same cage, and it’s doing it early. Nolan King reported that Pavel Andrusca will face Mahammadli Osmanli at UFC Saudi Arabia on December 6, a card expected to be headlined by Israel Adesanya against Shara Magomedov at middleweight.
Matchmakers usually spend a year or two building guys like this before letting them near each other. Somebody in the building decided to skip that part.
Andrusca’s résumé
Andrusca is 9-0 with seven stoppages. He started his pro career 6-0 and won the Vendetta Fight Night bantamweight title, defending it twice before signing with UAE Warriors last year. There he knocked out Daermisi Zhawupasi in his debut, then needed a little over two minutes to knock out Gexipengchu in May.
Then came the call. The Moldovan took his UFC debut on short notice at UFC Paris, moved up a weight class to do it, and beat Nathaniel Wood by unanimous decision. Wood walked in riding a four-fight win streak. Short notice, bigger division, a ranked-caliber veteran across the cage, and Andrusca still got his hand raised. That’s my kind of guy.
Osmanli’s strange debut
Osmanli also came up through UAE Warriors, where he submitted the previously unbeaten Bakhtovar Yunusov in the second round at UAE Warriors 65. That win got him onto the bantamweight cast of The Ultimate Fighter Season 34, and “The Ineffable” submitted both of his opponents on the show.
The TUF 34 final against Ilimbek Akylbek, held on a UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas in September, went sideways fast. Osmanli was a heavy favorite, but he landed an illegal knee just over two minutes in and lost by disqualification. So his UFC record shows a loss he didn’t really lose in the usual sense, and his next fight is against an undefeated knockout artist. Rough draw.
The rest of the card
The top of the bill carries most of the star power. Adesanya, a two-time middleweight champion, is on a four-fight losing streak that started with the upset loss to Sean Strickland and most recently saw him stopped by Joe Pyfer at UFC Seattle in March. He’s never been in a hole like this. Magomedov is the opponent expected to either help him out of it or bury him deeper.
Ion Cutelaba vs. Magomed Tuchalov is the co-main. The reported lineup also includes Jafel Filho vs. Bruno Silva, Matthieu Duclos vs. Modestino Rodrigues, Abdul Hussein vs. Hecher Sosa, Levan Chokheli vs. Islam Dulatov, Uran Satybaldiev vs. Ivan Gnizditskiy, Jun Yong Park vs. Marco Tulio, and Mairon Santos vs. Akbar Abdullaev.
Quick take
I love this booking, even if one of these guys is going to lose a lot of shine on a Saturday in December. Andrusca already proved he’ll take the hard fight on short notice, and Osmanli needs a real win to wipe the DQ off his debut. Adesanya and Magomedov will sell the card, but if you’re the type who watches the prelims with a notebook, Andrusca vs. Osmanli is the fight you circle for December 6.
