UFC 288 fighter's new look sparks hilarious reactions from fans

UFC flyweight Zhalgas Zhumagulov has opted to sport a daring and bold new look ahead of his UFC 288 bout against Rafael Estevam this weekend.

Born in Kazakhstan, Zhumagulov made his UFC debut in 2020 sporting a 13-3 professional record before his first bout. His dream career move to the organization hasn't gone to plan, however, as he is 1-5 in his last six appearances.

The 34-year-old will be hoping a change of hairstyle may just be the answer to turning his career around after his UFC 288 media day pictures have shown the Kazakh fighter sporting a bowlcut.

Check out the photo here:

Zhalgas Zhumagulov's new hair

Fans have been reacting to Zhalgas Zhumagulov's new hairstyle, with one fan hilariously comparing the style to a mix of Paddy Pimblett and Bruce Lee. They wrote:

"If Paddy & Bruce Lee had a baby who was raised by Borat"

A Reddit users comment

Another fan joked that Zhumagulov chose a haircut similar to Pimblett's in order to get the judges' decisions, referring to 'The Baddy's' controversial win over Jared Gordon last year.

"Loses too many bad decisions, decides to disguise himself as Paddy so he'll be the one winning bad decisions. Genius"

Another fans comment

Reddit user @fat-villante joked that the hairstyle was in fact because Zhalgas Zhumagulov is a fan of The Beatles.

"He must be a big Beatles fan"

Another Reddit user's comment

Check out more fan reactions below:

The rest of the fan reaction

Aljamain Sterling claims he can KO Henry Cejudo at UFC 288

UFC 288's main event sees Aljamain Sterling defend his bantamweight title against the returning Henry Cejudo.

Much of the fight build-up has been centered around whether Sterling can neutralize the wrestling threat of 'Triple C' and contend with the former double champion on the feet.

According to 'Funk Master', however, he's not only confident of hanging with Cejudo in the striking, but also believes it could be his opportunity to land the first standing KO of his career. The bantamweight champ said:

"I hope he stays on the outside. I'm going to pick his a** apart. I really do think so. I think this might be my first stand-up KO. I would like to get the takedown and then to TKO him on the ground, but I think if he tries to strike with me on the outside, I get to pick him apart and really display my striking once again like I did against Pedro Munhoz, like I did against Jimmie Rivera, and these are all high-level strikers.

Catch Sterling's comments here: