UFC 242: Khabib vs. Poirier - Predictions and Picks

#5 Mairbek Taisumov vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira

Can the dangerous Mairbek Taisumov knock out Diego Ferreira?

This fight is flying under the radar but it’s actually a sneakily brilliant clash on paper between two of the 155lbs division’s most underrated fighters. Ferreira is on a 4-fight win streak, most recently beating the tricky Rustam Khabilov, while Taisumov has won his last 6, knocking out 5 of those opponents in the process.

The elephant in the room? Taisumov is coming back from a ban for the PED stanozolol, essentially an anabolic steroid. Therefore it’s probably a little hard to predict how he’ll seem from a physical standpoint. Assuming he’s no worse off though – USADA did find that a supposed contaminated supplement was to blame - we’re looking at one of the most dangerous strikers in the division. ‘Beckan’ hits hard, hits from all kinds of areas and angles, and is highly aggressive.

Ferreira meanwhile isn’t quite as explosive a striker as Taisumov, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. In fact, one of his best UFC wins was a knockout over the overly wild Ramsey Nijem. Realistically though I don’t think he’s going to win a striking match here. Where he could win is on the ground, where he’s genuinely fantastic.

A BJJ black belt, Ferreira also has pretty good takedowns and on the ground, he’s extremely aggressive. He slices through guards like a knife through butter and once he finds himself in a dominant position, as he did against Jared Gordon and Kyle Nelson, he looks to punish his opponent until he finishes them off.

The fact that he was also able to out grapple Khabilov and Olivier Aubin-Mercier – two dangerous grapplers in their own right – is also massively impressive. It must be said, though, that only the powerful wrestler Michel Prazeres has been able to ground Taisumov. He couldn’t keep him down, either, and since then ‘Beckan’ has overcome another stifling top game artist in Desmond Green.

For me, this comes down to whether Taisumov can keep Ferreira from taking him down and taking a dominant position. Given his incredible reflexes, athleticism and striking skill I think he can, and that for me spells major problems for the Brazilian, who is likely outgunned on his feet.

The Pick: Taisumov via second-round TKO