UFC 228: 5 reasons why you need to watch the undercard

#2 Zabit Magomedsharipov is back in action

Zabit Magomedsharipov is a hugely exciting prospect

Okay, so UFC 228 lost a lot of its appeal when an amazing-sounding fight between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez was cancelled due to an injury to ‘Pantera’, but Zabit remains on the card and that in itself makes it worth watching. Last time out, the dangerous Dagestani talent went to war with Kyle Bochniak and put on one of the very best fights of 2018, eventually winning by unanimous decision.

Magomedsharipov – yet another hugely talented fighter from the Dagestan region of Russia – is already 3-0 in the UFC, but UFC 228 will mark the first time he’s really been pushed on a televised card, as although his fight with Bochniak was on the main card of UFC 223, it was only elevated at the last minute due to some changes to the initial bout order.

While his new opponent Brandon Davis isn’t as exciting as Rodriguez, there are two plus points about this fight. Firstly, the Magomedsharipov/Rodriguez fight would’ve killed off the title hopes of a top prospect regardless of the winner. Here though, the likelihood is that Zabit will run right through Davis – meaning the UFC gets some more action to add to Magomedsharipov’s increasing highlight reel. And secondly, despite being just 1-2 in the UFC, Davis has put on exciting fights before, most notably against Steven Peterson in February.

Realistically this should be a one-sided fight in favour of Zabit, but given the history of both fighters it’s almost bound to be exciting.