This Saturday night, UFC 285 hits the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event marks the return of Jon Jones, making his debut at heavyweight, but this card is stacked with other talents. To open up the show we got a pair of debuts. Contender Series contract winner Esteban Ribovics will be taking on PFL alum Loik Radzhabov. Ribovics was supposed to fight Kamuela Kirk but he pulled out and Loik stepped in on short notice.
Loik “Jaguar Paw” Radzhabov
Standing at five-foot-eight
Fighting at 155 lbs (lightweight)
32-years-old
Fighting out of Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Training out of Kill Cliff FC
A pro record of 16-4-1
7 KO/TKOs, 5 Submissions
How will Radzhabov fare in the UFC:
It is good to see guys with experience getting into the UFC instead of these young guys with less than five pro fights. Radzhabov was pulled from this coming season of TUF but was brought straight to the UFC instead. Radzhabov is a two-time PFL finalist and has fought some good competition along the way. Good competition, but not great competition. All the fighters he faced in the PFL are former UFC athletes, or fighters who really aren’t UFC-level. He’s 3-3 in his last six so that’s not a good look.
Re-watching Radzhabov it’s hard to be impressed with his skillset. However, while you can’t teach toughness and grit and many people lack it, that’s precisely what Radzhabov has.
Radzhabov has a lot of cage time going the distance nine times in his last twelve fights. That looks like he has an endless gas tank but he actually has a poor gas tank. He slows quickly but is hard to put away being so hardheaded.
Radzhabov is a strong guy physically and that’s shown in the clinch and with his wrestling. Overall, his wrestling at a B— but his top position is very C-level. He has clubbing power hitting hard and visibly affects opponents when landing clean. His striking isn’t bad but he’s wide and lacks the proper setups and technique.
Radzhabov isn’t tough to hit due to his head movement and gas tank. His takedown defense isn’t too good but he does excellent work to get back to his feet. Radzhabov is a little overrated maybe. Not saying he’s bad however — he’ll get some wins in the UFC.
How Radzhabov and Ribovics match up:
Radzhabov is the more experienced fighter, has fought much better competition, and has just seen it all. Ribovics is a good sized underdog and he shouldn’t be. On paper, Radzhabov seems like the clear winner but it’s not that simple. I like the striking of Ribovics much more than Radzhabov. Ribovics has much better technique and hits much harder. Radzhabov will just walk forward but Ribovics can use good footwork and utilize feints well. Ribovics has a variety of striking techniques and uses a lot of angles.
I don’t see this fight spending much time on the mat but I favor the wrestling and grappling of Ribovics. Maybe the experience level will play a part in this fight but I like the underdog in this fight.
