An intriguing heavyweight clash between Jairzinho ‘Bigi Boy’ Rozenstruik and Ciryl Gane will headline this weekend’s UFC Vegas 20 card. But, the whole card, including the prelims, has some great fights on offer. One of these intriguing bouts will feature ‘Cowboy’ Alex Oliveira taking on Ramzan Kuramagomedov in the UFC welterweight division.

Oliveira will make his first appearance inside the Octagon since his UFC 254 loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov in October. He was originally scheduled to fight Randy Brown, who withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Subsequently, the UFC booked the Dana White’s Contender Series fighter as Oliveira’s on short notice opponent. Here we take a look at the prediction and analysis of the fight.

Alex Oliveira in numbers

‘Cowboy’ Oliveira has been fighting in the UFC since 2015 and has a professional record of 22-9. He has fought in the promotion 19 times and has put together an 11-7-1 record. Gilbert Burns submitted him in his promotional debut.

Out of Oliveira’s 22 wins, 17 have been by finishes. He has 12 wins by T/KO and 5 by submission in his career. Oliveira has recorded a striking accuracy of 50%. He has landed 2.87 signature strikes per minute and has absorbed 2.18 in the process. The 33-year-old has a takedown accuracy of 37% and a takedown defense of 63%.

Oliveira has won only 2 of his last 6 fights with his last victory coming in July in Fight Island.

Ramzan Kuramagomedov in numbers

The undefeated Dagestani fights out of the XTREME COUTURE team and will make his UFC debut against Oliveira. He won a split decision in Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2019. Kuramagomedov has also competed under PFL MMA banner.

His professional record stands at 8-o; 5 of these have come by finishes. The fighter has claimed 1 win by T/KO and 4 by submission so far in his career. He has shown immense talent in his previous performances in the promotion.

However, despite being a professional from 2014, he took a 3-year-long layoff after his debut. His experience is minimal compared to Oliveira’s. But, having less mileage can work to his advantage in this fight.

It also remains to be seen how the Russian performs in his first outing under the bright lights of the UFC. A win over a seasoned contender can certainly springboard him in the division.

Final Prediction: Ramzan Kuramagomedov by decision