UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Guskov Predictions

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UFC Fight Night 282: Ankalaev vs. Guskov takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – and we’ve got our UFC predictions for all the fights below, and you can place your bets with the best betting sites Australia has to offer!

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Bogdan Guskov Prediction

Magomed Ankalaev had to go on a 14-fight unbeaten run in the UFC to finally claim the 205lb title with a decision win over Alex Pereira last year, only to then lose by 1st round TKO in their rematch. Now he gets back to business against the 10th ranked Bogdan Guskov, who comes in on just a couple of weeks notice, having gone unbeaten in his last five Octagon appearances.

There’s no shame in losing to the notoriously hard-hitting Pereira, but it was surprising that it took only 80 seconds as the 34-year-old Ankalaev had never been stopped by strikes before, and tends to be quite risk-adverse and defensively sound. However, after being lulled into an uncharacteristically passive fight in their first encounter, Pereira was determined this time to close the distance and engage, which soon paid off for him when he rocked Ankalaev with a right hand. It’s usually not so easy to get into range with Ankalaev though as he does a good job of maintaining distance with straight punches and kicks on the outside. He’s not the most active with his output, but he has solid accuracy and has enough power to have delivered 10 wins via strikes. Meanwhile, those who do get into close quarters need to be wary of Ankalaev’s clinch and takedown threat as he is a competent wrestler who is comfortable on the mat, albeit without ever registering a submission win. Meanwhile, It should also be noted that with his methodical approach and good cardio management, Ankalaev has gone 10-0 in fights that have went the distance.

The 33-year-old Guskov lost in his UFC debut back in 2023, but then went on a four-fight winning streak while beating each of his opponents inside of the distance. However, last time out he had to settle for a majority draw against former champ Jan Blachowicz after dropping him in the 2nd round, only to then be knocked down himself late in the fight. There’s not much polish to Guskov’s striking, but he certainly carries a lot of power, with 15 of his 18 career victories coming via his hard-hitting punches. Guskov’s three other wins came via choke-based submissions, but his defensive work on the mat isn’t particularly convincing. That being said he’s only lost once by both strikes and submissions up to this point.

Despite his setback last time out I think Ankalaev is still the better fighter all-round in this match-up against Guskov. I’d expect him to look to keep Guskov at bay, and the longer the fight goes the more it favors him to get the better of the striking exchanges, leading to an efficient, if not particularly exciting decision victory.

Magomed Ankalaev to win by decision

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Steve Erceg vs. Ramazan Temirov Prediction

Steve Erceg comes in off back-to-back victories to fight in the co-main event against Ramazan Temirov, who is 2-0 in the Octagon so far.

The 30-year-old Erceg has admitted that he perhaps wasn’t fully prepared to deal with being quickly pushed into title contention early in his UFC run, leading to him losing three fights in a row against top-flight competition. However, he’s since managed to regain some confidence with two solid decision wins under his belt against unranked veterans in ode Osbourne and Tim Elliott. Erceg is a composed fighter with a respectable all-round skill-set. On the feet he has competent boxing fundamentals with nice accuracy and good timing, and he’ll benefit from a 4″ height and 5″ reach advantage here. He will also mix in an occasional elbow or kick, but he doesn’t have too much in the way of stopping power. Erceg can wrestle too though and has good grappling that was actually his most dependable weapon during his time on the regional scene, where he frequently emerged with submission victories.

The 29-year-old Temirov is an experienced fighter who had a couple of fights in the Rizin promotion prior to joining the UFC, and holds an overall 19-3 career record. Temirov has performed well in the promotion so far, including picking up a win over Charles Johnson last time out, but not long afterwards he had to serve a one-year suspension after testing positive for a banned substance. Temirov is short, but stocky and carries explosive power in his hands, resulting in 11 of his 19 victories coming via strikes, including five of his last six victories ending inside the first round. He does tend to lean on big moments in fights rather than repeatedly winning exchanges though, but even so he’s still won 7 of his 9 fights that have gone to the judges. Temirov isn’t much of a threat on the mat, but he does have good takedown defense to keep the fight where he wants it.

I could see this one going either way as while Erceg should be able to land the higher volume of strikes over three rounds, Temirov is likely to be landing the more damaging blows and is more of a finishing threat. As such I’m slightly leaning towards Temirov’s more impactful moments being enough to sway the judges in his favor.

Ramazan Temirov to win by decision

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Islam Dulatov vs. Wellington Turman Prediction

Islam Dulatov won his UFC debut by 1st round KO to go 12-1 in his career to date. Now he’ll go up against Wellington Turman, who has lost his last three fights.

The 27-year-old Dulatov has been a model for brands like Versace, which would seem like a highly unlikely fit for a UFC fighter if Alan Jouban hadn’t already taken the same career path a decade ago. And the 6ft 3″ Dulatov has made a good impression in the sport so far, with all 12 of his career wins coming inside the distance, and only one of those making it out of the first round. So Dulatov comes in hot from the opening bell, but he does have good striking technique and athleticism to go along with his obvious power, and he’ll be aided by a 3″ height and reach advantage. He’s also able to quickly pounce on submission opportunities, accounting for four of his victories, each of which came in under a minute. The downside to all this is that we don’t have much evidence for how he’ll hold up beyond the opening round, other than the fact that his sole loss was by decision in his MMA debut six years ago.

It’s somewhat of a surprise that the 29-year-old Turman is still in the UFC given that not only has he lost his last three bouts and gone just 3-6 overall in the Octagon, but has also been out of action for the past two-and-a-half years. Turman’s striking has never been particularly convincing or threatening, and so he can end up looking to adopt a more grinding strategy in the clinch at times. He is more dangerous on the mat as he has a black belt in BJJ and has racked up eight submission wins, but a lack of wrestling hinders his ability to reliably get the fight to the floor.

This feels like a fight that clearly favors Dulatov, and with Turman likely to be rusty after such a long layoff I think a typically fast start from his opponent will lead to an early TKO finish.

Islam Dulatov to win by TKO In Rd1

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Magomed Zynakov vs. Damien Rzepecki Prediction

Magomed Zaynukov emerges from the Contender Series with an 8-0 record to make his UFC debut against Damian Rzepecki, who also makes his first appearance in the promotion after going 10-0 on the Polish regional scene.

The 31-year-old Zaynukov is a decorated muay thai fighter out of Dagestan who has since turned his attention to MMA and is coached by UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov. he’s primarily a well-versed striker who will deploy frequent kicks backed up by solid punches and he mixes his combinations well. While Zaynukov prefers the striking action, he’s also comfortable wrestling too if required, but he’s not delivered a submission finish yet, with five of his wins coming via strikes and the other three by decision.

Rzepecki arrives in the UFC with room to develop given that he’s still quite young at 24-years-old. ‘The Butcher’ has respectable boxing ability, working nicely to the body as well as the head, and while only four of his 10 career wins have been via strikes, three out of his last four victories were by KO. Rzepecki is also a threat on the mat from submissions, with several rear-naked choke finishes to his name, and even a rare Japanese necktie stoppage. However, Rzepecki’s wrestling is a weak point, particularly defensively, that could become an issue at the UFC level.

I think Zaynukov is the better striker overall here and also has a significant wrestling advantage too, which should lead him to a decision victory.

Magomed Zynakov to win by decision

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Rizvan Kuniev vs. Tyrell Fortune Prediction

Rizvan Kuniev has gone 1-1 in the UFC’s heavyweight division so far and now fights Tyrell Fortune, who won his UFC debut by decision back in March.

The 34-year-old Kuniev is an experienced fighter who was previously Eagle FC’s heavyweight champion and also won two Contender Series bouts by TKO as well. As such he was thrown straight into the deep end when he joined the UFC last year and only narrowly lost to Curtis Blaydes by split-decision, before going on to get the better of Jailton Almeida by unanimous decision. Coming from Dagestan, Kuniev can wrestle if required, but he’s much more striking orientated, primarily via steady boxing with decent power, while he’ll also mix in some kicks and knees, and can operate from the clinch too. Six of his 13 wins have come strikes and he has a couple of submission victories too, while he’s also never been stopped in his career.

The 36-year-old Fortune’s career began a decade ago in the Bellator promotion, where he’d remain for eight years. He put in a respectable 13-2 (+2nc) record there, though without ever getting much of a chance to fight notable opposition. After going on to compete for a few other promotions, including PFL, he eventually made it to the UFC thanks to a short-notice opportunity back in March. That would lead to his most notable win to date by besting Marcin Tybura on the scorecards. Fortune is a decently athletic heavyweight with a solid background in wrestling. He has good power on the feet and hard ground-and-pound too, but he doesn’t have the highest output and tend to struggle against more technical fighters.

I think this one will probably play out on the feet and I expect it to be fought at a steady pace with Kuniev edging out the striking exchanges to win by decision.

Rizvan Kuniev to win by decision

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Ismael Bonfim vs. Axel Sola Prediction

Ismael Bonfim comes in off back-to-back TKO losses to fight Axel Sola, who suffered the first loss of his 12-fight career last time out.

While his younger brother Gabriel is currently in fine form in the UFC’s welterweight division, Ismael Bonfim has been finding the going tougher in the lightweight ranks, having lost three of his last four bouts. He had been in good form before that though, having arrived in the UFC with an 18-3 record and then KO’d Terrence McKinney with a flying knee in his promotional debut. Bonfim’s game is less well-rounded than his brother as he’s more striking orientated with a particular emphasis on compact boxing with quick hands, sound fundamentals and respectable power. Up until recently the 30-year-old’s durability wasn’t an issue, so his last two fights ending in TKO defeats is a potential concern, while he also badly missed weight last time out and looked out-of-sorts. Bonfim’s more notable weakness over the years has been his submission defense though, which is responsible for four of his six defeats. That being said, he is a capable wrestler and does have a few submission wins on his record too.

The 28-year-old Sola is also an experienced fighter who initially had an extensive run of amateur MMA fights before turning pro, where he’s now compiled an 11-1-1 record. That includes winning his UFC debut against Rhys McKee by TKO, but Mason Jones then bested him on the scorecards back in March. Sola is a reasonably solid, workmanlike all-rounder who also has good conditioning, having successfully navigated five round fights in the past on the regional scene. Sola can strike, but he tends to do better when he mixes in other aspects of his game like clinch-work, wrestling and grappling to get control of the fight.

Bonfim has become a bit unreliable lately, and with Sola being comfortable steering the fight away from just being a striking battle I’m taking him to edge out a decision victory here.

Axel Sola to win by decision

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UFC Fight Night 282: Ankalaev vs. Guskov Prelims

(Predicted winners in bold)

Abubakar Vagaev vs. Saygid Izagakhmaev
Valter Walker vs. Thomas Petersen
Dustin Jacoby vs. Muhammad Said
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Sam Patterson
Magomed Tuchalov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
Nurullo Aliev vs. Mike Davis
Abdul Hussein vs. Cody Gibson

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MMA Writer

Ross Cole

Ross Cole is one of the most prolific mixed martial arts writers in the world.

Having written more than 22,000 MMA news stories for MMA Insight, which he founded in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Few people know the UFC and the sport of MMA like Ross, and he has built a solid reputation for being one of the best MMA tipsters in the world.

You can read more of Ross's work at MMAInsight.com.