Don’t Sleep on Said Nurmagomedov vs. Vinicius Oliveira
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UFC Saudi Arabia will go down on February 1st in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Former middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya aims to return to title contention in the main event. He will face the rising French contender Nassourdine Imavov.
That’s not the only quality fight on the card. Undefeated Russian middleweight striker, Sharaputdin Magomedov returns to the cage. He faces the toughest test of his ascending career. He will take on the always entertaining Michael ‘Venom’ Page in the co-main event.
Aside from headliners, there are plenty of fights you don’t want to miss. But one fans may be sleeping on is the bantamweight clash between Said Nurmagomedov and Vinicius Oliveira.
An Intriguing Stylist Matchup
The third fight scheduled on the main card of UFC Saudi Arabia showcases well-rounded, unranked bantamweights Said Nurmagomedov (18-3-0) and Vinicius Oliveira (21-3-0). Both are underrated and will undoubtedly engage in a high-level war over three hard-fought rounds.
Both talented bantamweights are 4-1 in their last five fights. The winner hopes to earn an impressive performance in the top 15 rankings. Oliveira, 29, is 2-0 inside the UFC and is currently riding a four-fight win streak. His last appearance was a unanimous decision victory against Ricky Simon on UFC 303 in June 2024. Nurmagomedov, 32, delivered an impressive performance in his previous fight. He secured a first-round submission victory against Muin Gafurov at UFC 294 in October 2023. Nurmagomedov was nearly flawless in this performance. He secured a tight guillotine choke shortly after the fight’s opening minute. Said’s performance was perfect for bouncing back. He needed this after a tough decision loss to Jonathan Martinez back in March 2023.
Nurmagomedov and Oliveira are quality strikers who can switch from orthodox to southpaw efficiently. They have chopping low kicks that they heavily implement into their offense. The Brazilian Oliveira seems to be the more athletic and explosive fighter, holding the overall physical advantage. Nurmagomedov is very opportunistic with submissions, threatening chokes on sloppy takedown entries. The well-rounded Russian has an arsenal of kicks.
The difference their approach comes down to the prioritization of kicks over boxing. Oliveira prefers to keep his hands low around his hips. He chops his opponents’ legs and fires off explosive punches down the middle. Nurmagomedov prefers to bounce around the cage, mixing up different levels of kicks, occasionally punching, and opportunistically grappling. One element of Oliveira’s explosive game is that he slows down immensely as the fight digs deeper. This could be the chink in Oliveira’s armor that Nurmagomedov hopes to exploit.
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