Outside Source
Curtis Blaydes will be the favorite when welcomes Rizvan Kuniev to the Octagon at UFC Baku.
Blaydes will take on Kuniev at UFC on ABC 8 on Saturday at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku as the promotion heads to Azerbaijan for the first time. Blaydes is a sizeable -265 favorite on most sportsbooks against Kuniev, a +210 underdog.
Blaydes has dropped two of his last three outings, all of which ended via knockout. Blaydes suffered a first-round technical knockout loss to Sergei Pavlovich in 2023 but rebounded with a second-round stoppage against Jailton Almeida at UFC 299. He then suffered another knockout loss in an interim title bid against Tom Aspinall in July 2024 and hasn’t fought since.
While Kuniev won on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, he didn’t earn a UFC contract. The former Eagle FC heavyweight champ subsequently vacated his belt and moved to the Professional Fighters League. While he earned a unanimous decision win over former champ Renan Ferreira in his PFL debut in 2023, it was overturned to a no contest after the Russian tested positive for banned substances. Kuniev has since earned a first-round knockout win over Hugo Cunho in his second Contender Series appearance last year to secure a contract.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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