This week’s installment of UFC on ESPN comes from the UFC Apex facility in suburban Las Vegas. The main event will bring Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad in a rematch of their welterweight fight at UFC 205. Luque knocked out Muhammad in the first round, and this is Muhammad’s chance at redemption. The co-main event was going to be a lightweight tussle between Drakkar Klose and Nikolas Motta. Brandon Jenkins was named as a late replacement for Motta, who was taken out of the event without explanation, and the fight was moved to the preliminary card. The co-main event is now a middleweight fight between Gadzhi Omargadzhiev and Caio Borralho. We have the complete fight card along with online UFC betting tips for the top two events.
UFC on ESPN 34: Luque vs Muhammad 2 Preview
Main Card (ESPN / ESPN+)
- Vicente Luque vs Belal Muhammad (Welterweight)
- Caio Borralho vs Gadzhi Omargadzhiev (Middleweight)
- MIguel Baeza vs Andre Fialho (Welterweight)
- Mayra Bueno Silva vs Wu Yanan (Women’s Bantamweight)
- Pat Sabatini vs T.J. Laramie (Featherweight)
- Mounir Lazzez vs Ange Loosa (Welterweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
- Devin Clark vs William Knight (Heavyweight)
- Lina Lansberg vs Pannie Kianzad (Women’s Bantamweight)
- Drakkar Klose vs Brandon Jenkins (Lightweight)
- Rafa Garcia vs Jesse Ronson (Lightweight)
- Chris Barnett vs Martin Buday (Heavyweight)
- Jordan Leavitt vs Trey Ogden (Lightweight)
- Istela Nunes vs Sam Hughes (Women’s Strawweight)
- Heili Alateng vs Kevin Croom (Bantamweight)
Vicente Luque (21-7-1, 14-3 UFC, -180) vs Belal Muhammad (20-3, 11-3 UFC, +150)
brings together two fighters who have gone through significant change since their initial encounter. Their first meeting only lasted 79 seconds, as Luque came out firing and delivered the big bomb in a hurry, giving him, at the time, four wins in a row, all with early finishes. Luque went on to lose his next fight to Leon Edwards on the cards, but after that, he has won 10 of 11. He is all about moving forward, applying pressure and bringing offense, which means that his fights display a great deal of punishment. He even used that approach against such big bombers as Mike Perry and Niko Price, but he beat both of them. His only loss in this 11-fight run came in 2019 against Stephen Thompson; Luque delivered a lot of punishment, but Thompson was able to use his athleticism to evade the biggest strikes and then bring his own damage. He has also shown wrestling skills in recent fights; in 2021, he delivered a brabo choke on Tyron Woodley and on Michael Chiesa, winning both and elevating himself to contender status in a deep welterweight division.Muhammad’s knockout loss to Luque looked like a sign that he might not last long in the promotion, as that gave him two losses in his last three fights. Since then, he has shown development in technical skill and planning out his fights, so that he brings the skills that are most likely to beat each specific opponent. He has only lost once since the defeat to Luque, a loss on the cards against Geoff Neal in 2019. He beat Lyman Good in 2020, showing both striking and wrestling skills, and his win over Stephen Thompson in December was a revelation, in that he went almost all with the wrestling game and delivered a big win. It will be interesting to see if Muhammad’s increased diversity in his fighting technique will give him a better answer for Luque’s constant pressure. Luque does have a strong submission game as well, which means that Muhammad will need to use a range as wide as he used to defeat Good. I think this fight lasts longer, but I also think that Luque still punches through Muhammad’s defenses.
Final Prediction: Luque wins via stoppage
Gadzhi Omargadzhiev (13-0, 0-0 UFC, -135) vs Caio Borralho (10-1, 0-0 UFC, +105)
is an unusual co-main event in that both fighters are making their promotional debut. Both fighters looked elite on Dana White’s Contender Series. Borralho showed that he was ready for UFC on the show, always remaining in front of Aaron Jeffery in their match and then finishing Jesse Murray quickly to get a UFC contract. Omargadzhiev has a decent striking game and has the power to bring knockout blows, but his wrestling is the better side of his game. Borralho could use his athleticism to move around and challenge the Russian, so I’m going with the slight value edge here.Final Prediction: Borralho wins via decision
UFC Betting Odds
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