#welterweight

#welterweight

A big fight for the welterweight division served as the UFC Qatar co-main event, as ex-champ and #1-ranked Belal Muhammad took on Irish star Ian Machado Garry. With Islam Makhachev newly crowned as the promotion's welterweight champion, Garry, Michael Morales, Carlos Prates and others were vying to be first in line to challenge one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

Izagakhmaev opened the bout by firing a right cross, but Dalby immediately clinched and pressed him to the cage. They spent some time trading knees in that position until the referee broke them apart. Dalby went back to working his kicks, mixing high and low targets, and again pushed Izagakhmaev to the fence. This time Izagakhmaev managed to briefly reverse, but Dalby rotated off and shot a takedown. Izagakhmaev's base held strong, allowing him to land on top,

I think he's the first striker for like four years I think. When you're fighting a striker you can flow a bit more. It's a more entertaining fight,

Punahele Soriano scored a big takedown about a minute in, with Nikolay defending with a guillotine. That didn't work, and Soriano completed the attempt. From there, he was able to posture up and landing some smashing elbows with Veretennikov stuck with his back to the fence. Soriano ate up a lot of time in that position, landing several solid blows with Veretennikov completely unable to create space or scramble out.

Omar El Dafrawy showcased his skills against Daniele 'The Cyborg' Miceli in the main event, highlighting the competitive nature of the welterweight MENA tournament.