UFC bantamweight Brad Katona, veteran of 8 UFC bouts, took on Bezkat Almakhan in the curtain opener at UFC 315 on Saturday night hoping to avoid a losing streak in his second promotional run.
Katona (14-4) returned to the UFC after three years out of the promotion by taking part in The Ultimate Fighter 31. He’s gone 2-2 since his return with wins over Cody Gibson and Jesse Butler. He hoped to avoid a losing streak after dropping his last bout against Jean Matsumoto.
Almakhan (11-2) is a native of Kazakhstan and made his UFC debut against Umar Nurmagomedov last in March 2024. The matchup with Katona marks his second fight in the UFC.
Round 1 Almakhan came out with a clear quickness advantage or at least much better timing than Katona. Almakhan wanted a fist bump as the fight began, but Katona was clearly uninterested.
An early right hand gave Almakhan the range and he began to land quick jabs. Uppercuts began to land rather frequently for Almakhan until he landed a clean fight-ending shot sending Katona on the short trip back to Winnipeg.
Massive victory for the Kazakhstan fighter, and Katona returns to the hot seat with a second-straight loss.
Official Result: Bezkat Almakhan def. Brad Katona via R1 KO, 1:04
