The would-be featherweight fight was shifted to catchweight after Santos missed weight by a pound and a half. The Brazilian, having recently joined “The Fighting Nerds,” was a TUF winner, and still just 25.

It was Santos holding center early, firing kicks towards Tajikistan’s Naimov, then catching one when Naimov returned fire. While he couldn’t dump Naimov, Santos caught and wobbled him moments later with a right hand that drew an audible reaction from fans at the T-Mobile Arena.

The next major development came as Naimov ducked down just as Santos was entering himself, resulting in a clash of heads. They went into a clinch, only for the ref to pause the action, then restart it in the same spot. A clearly accidental foul, and a very brief interruption in the fight itself.

Round two saw the pair clinch up early, with Naimov eventually getting in control. He fired knees to the thigh, and soon reversed the position, only to be reversed again. A lot of small battles, but not a lot of action during the first couple of minutes of the frame. Santos took to slapping his opponent, several times on the back, once on the head, before finally freeing himself. That led to a brief exchange at center, with both men taking some big swings but missing.

The third round opened with Santos attacking the legs, then dropping Naimov with a right hand! Naimov looked down and out, and Mairon Santos was all over him! That was a wrap, with the ref callin git. Just a well-placed right hand, with the follow-up shots leaving Naimov turtling up.

Official Result: Mairon Santos def. Muhammad Naimov by TKO, Round 3, 0:21

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Khalil Rountree Jr.

Khalil Rountree Jr. said he unlocked newfound confidence in himself after his admirable showing in his title fight against Alex Pereira last fall. As he was facing another former champion in Jamahal Hill, Khalil put on a striking clinic, earning a wide unanimous decision. He destroyed Hill’s base with leg kicks, which took away Hill’s ability to generate power. Once the danger coming back was lessened, Khalil then started firing combinations up top and knocked Hill down multiple times on his way to the best win of his career.

After he defeated Jan Blachowicz in March, I thought Carlos Ulberg was almost guaranteed to face Jiri Prochazka next. But we are now in June and nothing has been announced on that front. This is a case where fighting styles might determine which direction the promotion goes. Ulberg’s more point-fighting approach could cost him the Prochazka fight since the idea of Prochazka clashing with Rountree Jr.’s style sounds a lot more appealing.

Rountree Jr.’s next fight: Jiri Prochazka

Rafael Fiziev

He had to wait a long time, but “Ataman” finally got his hand raised again. Only three months removed from his war with Justin Gaethje in March, Fiziev this time had to deal with the surging youngster Ignacio Bahamondes in the UFC Baku co-main event. Despite the gigantic height and reach disadvantages, Fiziev earned 30-27s on all three scorecards.

A Mateusz Gamrot rematch or a fight with Benoit Saint Denis are both fine options, but I’m more intrigued in Gamrot fighting the Frenchman. Dan Hooker is also a very fun option, but I still think there’s a chance they simply re-book the Gaethje fight. I believe Fiziev’s next opponent will come from this from upcoming weekend’s fight between Beneil Dariush and Renato Moicano. Fiziev is in a good spot to face the winner of that bout.

Fiziev’s next fight: Dariush/Moicano winner

Curtis Blaydes

This fight was originally scheduled for February, but after multiple delays, Curtis Blaydes and Rizvan Kuniev finally faced off inside the octagon this weekend. Blaydes did get back in the win column, but he didn’t exactly do it via an awe-inspiring performance. He got teed off on on multiple occasions during the fight and narrowly escaped with a split decision. Bouncing back after his quick KO loss to Tom Aspinall last summer was key, but Blaydes will need a better showing than this if he wants to insert himself back in the title picture. Fellow veteran of the game Marcin Tybura is ranked only three spots below Blaydes and has won back-to-back fights. He seems like a prime candidate to face him next.

Blaydes’ next fight: Marcin Tybura

Myktybek Orolbai

The 27-year-old prospect earned a nice submission victory over a very well-respected veteran in Tofiq Musayev, in the latter’s promotional debut at UFC Baku. He might have been making his promotional debut, but hardcore fans know how good Musayev is, so this makes Orolbai’s win all the more impressive coming off his war with Mateusz Rebecki last October.

Orolbai’s previous fight was at a catchweight of 160 lbs, this one was at 165 lbs. He did make the lightweight limit against Elves Brener, but back-to-back catchweight fights tells me it would probably be preferable for Orolbai to simply make the move to welterweight. There are a lot of feasible opponents for him at 170, but I went with Ramiz Brahimaj who is coming off a nasty guillotine choke finish of Billy Ray Goff last month.

Orolbai’s next fight: Ramiz Brahimaj

Nazim Sadykhov

Nazim Sadykhov got his second knockout win of 2025, this one over Nikolas Motta. From veterans like Nasrat Haqparast or Chris Padilla, to younger names like Charlie Campbell and Tom Nolan, the lightweight division isn’t lacking in names that “Black Wolf” could face. I landed on Manuel Torres, in part because I believe the timing could work for the Noche card in September. It’s also a matchup that would guarantee fireworks and would tell us a lot about which prospect to move up the ladder.

Sadykhov’s next fight: Manuel Torres

Muhammad Naimov

Naimov earned 29-28s across the board at UFC Baku to win his second consecutive fight since being upset by the then debuting Felipe Lima a year ago. Now 5-1 in the UFC, the fighter from Tajikistan seems just a couple good performances away from a shot at the rankings. A fighter in a similar position, who is also on a two-fight win streak, is the young Brazilian Gabriel Santos. Since dropping his first two fights to ranked contenders Lerone Murphy and David Onama, Santos has put on encouraging showings in the following two outings. This matchup would determine who gets to inch closer to a ranked name.

Naimov’s next fight: Gabriel Santos

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The fight got off to a hot start to say the least. Naimov had Grad hurt about 90 seconds into the opening round, with Naimov’s creative striking, including a spinning hook kick, being the difference maker. Grad, in danger, hit a key takedown, buying himself some recovery time. The kick had been just a little long, with the heel landing past Grad’s head and the calf doing most of the impact. Otherwise, it might have been a real early night for Grad.

Instead, he recovered, though Naimov would get back to his feet. There, the pair would eventually tie up along the fence, Grad working the body with knees and adding punches to Naimov’s thigh. Naimov fought off the takedown, however, a small boost to the morale no doubt.

In round two, Grad advanced early, with Naimov briefly circling outside before coming off the fence, looking to close the distance. Grad fired a right hand, then lunged in on another attack that forced Naimov to beat a hasty retreat. Two minutes in, Grad would change levels for a takedown, though tripped up a little on the way in. He stayed on the single leg, Naimov keeping a wide stance and fighting hands when Grad latched on with a body lock. Solid defense was on display as Naimov continued to keep the fight standing.

Naimov would counter the next takedown attempt with a guillotine, though the submission wasn’t to be had. Instead, Grad spun Naimov around after switching to a single leg, went back to a double leg, and finally landed it – with all of five seconds left on the clock.

It was Muhammad Naimov getting on top in the third round, after a Bogdan Grad takedown attempt backfired. Naimov couldn’t find a finish there, however, and Grad would end up back on the feet. That’s where the fight would end, the judges being required once again. All three would score it 29-28 for Naimov.

Naimov’s record in the UFC now stands at 5-1; he’s won two straight.

Official Result: Muhammad Naimov def. Bogdan Grad by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Ofli had been considered a favorite to win The Ultimate Fighter 32, but had fallen in the final to Mairon Santos. As for Naimov, he was looking to bounce back from a loss against Felipe Lima.

Action was halted early on in the UFC Saudi Arabia featured prelim when Ofli connected with a kick that landed flush with the groin. About 40 seconds later, Naimov was ready to go; he fired a punishing low kick almost immediately off the restart.

A bit of scrappy action followed, until they tied up along the fence, Naimov in the driver’s seat. He landed some short punches to the body, but Ofli was able to get his back off the fence with just over a minute remaining. Ofli would then land a low kick, answered with an elbow; a minute later, Ofli was drilled to the body, then clipped with a shot that sent him off-balance. Strong end to the round for Muhammad Naimov.

Round two saw Kaan Ofli go on the attack early, punching his way forward until Naimov clinched up and put him back on the fence once again. In an exchange after moving back to center, Ofli cracked Naimov right on the jaw with an uppercut, though Naimov ate it well. The exchange saw Ofli then put Naimov on the fence, double underhooks giving him control for a moment until Naimov finally reversed. Ofli reversed again a moment later, and fired knees to the thigh and an elbow over the top. When Naimov reversed once more, however, he uncorked a five or six punch combo, forcing Ofli to cover up.

With just over two minutes remaining, it was Naimov then landing a key takedown, almost immediately finding himself in side control. No finish, but lots of time for Naimov to work.

Despite Naimov likely being up in the fight, he started round three with some flash, firing a spinning kick up high. Ofli did manage to grab a leg and nearly dump him, but Naimov stayed upright, then took the fight down, moved to mount, and began raining down ground n’ pound. Ofli gave up his back, allowing Naimov to clamp on a bodylock. From there, he had over three minutes to hunt a rear-naked choke. Ofli fought the body triangle while defending the choke, battling for leg position and looking to reverse, to no avail.

With a minute or so left, Ofli would scramble out, returning to his feet and unleashing a combo to the body. He tied up Naimov after that, not the best option for a man needing a finish. A couple of solid shots did land, however, with Naimov covering up, but time round out before Ofli could make anything happen. No surprises on the scorecards, with Muhammad Naimov earning a clear decision victory.

Official Result: Muhammad Naimov def. Kaan Ofli by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

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While the opportunity got Lima’s foot in the door with the UFC, the highly-regarded bantamweight prospect was fighting up a weight class, on extremely short notice.

Lima started early in his UFC debut, firing a kick, then charging across the cage, firing a flying knee that came awfully close to ending the fight early. Things settled down just a little after that, with Lima firing low kicks. Naimov, the larger man, clinched up, and fired a knee of his own. On the feet, Lima was clearly able to hold his own, but in the second half of the round, Naimov was able to get the newcomer to his back, laying on Lima. Naimov was cut, however, dripping blood down onto his opponent.

Round two started out with more back-and-forth on the feet. Naimov mixed in a leg kick, then fanned on a spinning kick. Lima put together strikes to the body and head, but Naimov had become the busier fighter. He clinched up, landing a few knees. Lima answered back a moment later with a kick to the torso. No top control for Naimov in this round, with the pair continuing to battle it out on the feet for the most part.

Between rounds, Lima’s corner scolded him, telling him to use his boxing, and that he wasn’t tired. “You’d better do this,” his coach implored, telling him to do it for his mother, who Lima hadn’t been able to visit in two years.

Naimov opened round three with a kick, while Lima firing knees, then a high kick that was blocked. Lima hit the body, went upstairs, and then fired a spinning back kick. When Naimov clinched up, looking for a throw, Lima reversed, took the back, and sunk in a tight rear-naked choke! It wasn’t long before Naimov tapped, giving Felipe Lima a big win in his promotional debut. And, with a visit home to Brazil planned, he’ll get to celebrate the win with his mother.

Official Result: Felipe Lima def. Muhammad Naimov by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 1:15

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Felipe “D’Ouro” Lima
Standing at five-foot-six
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
26-years-old
Fighting out of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Training out of Allstars Training Center
A pro record of 12-1
4 KO/TKOs, 2 Submissions

How Lima will fare in the UFC:

Born in Brazil, Felipe Lima lives in Stockholm, Sweden, and has been training at Allstars Training Center for years. After making his debut in 2015 where he came up short, he hasn’t lost since. Lima would probably have been in the UFC years ago if he stayed active. He’s also had bad luck in keeping fights together. He even had a fight on season one of Road to UFC but his opponent pulled out.

Earlier in his career Lima did a bit more wrestling and grappling. He’s slowly gotten away from it but went back to it in his last fight. He did it impressively too out-grappling and out-wrestling Jonas Magard who is known for his jiu-jitsu. He can get taken down and lose positions but is never complacent so he hasn’t met someone that can completely out-grapple him yet.

Lima is a mixture of wild, unorthodox, and technical all at the same time when it comes to his striking. Lima throws a lot of high velocity such as switch kicks, capoeira kicks, and his favorite; the flying knee. The Brazilian is frequently mixing up his striking patterns. He never throws the same strike back-to-back. He always at least throws in two or three. He’ll mix in leg kicks and hooks to the body with his combinations.

I can’t point out all the combinations he does but I love his one-two digging to the body and then going up top. Lima covers a lot of distance quickly with his explosiveness and can bounce right back out of the way. And while his movement slows as the fight goes on, his striking gets better. Being more settled in Lima is lasered in with his shot placement.

I’m so high on Lima already and he’s just 26. He has a well-rounded skillset with a deep gas tank. He doesn’t have any glaring holes and he’s fought decent-enough competition. I view Lima as a top 15 bantamweight in the future but the ceiling is much higher than that even.

How he matches up with Naimov:

Naimov has had an odd career. He went from losing to lesser guys outside the UFC but then beating Jamie Mullarkey and Nathaniel Wood in the UFC. After going back and watching those fights I still think it’s more so disappointment in those two guys instead of being impressed by Naimov. From a skillset alone Lima is levels above Naimov. The only worrying thing is that Naimov is a strong featherweight and Lima is a 135’er. I’m still picking Lima and I’d be very surprised if Naimov got another high-caliber win.

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Baghdasaryan was the originally scheduled opponent for Muhammad Naimov, who will now face Lima this Saturday instead. The fight is expected to be contested at featherweight.

News of the switch was first reported by Eurosport’s Marcel Dorff. Oktagon officials confirmed to Cageside Press that Lima, their reigning bantamweight champ, has been released by the company, per the terms of his contract. An update on future plans for the promotion’s bantamweight title is expected shortly.

Lima (12-1) defeated Jonas Magard in July of 2023 to capture the Oktagon bantamweight crown. He had been expected to face Magard for a second time in a rematch next month, a fight that will no longer transpire with Lima inking a deal with the UFC.

Brazil’s Lima, 26, has not lost a fight since his pro debut in 2015, which remains as his first and only professional defeat.

Muhammad Naimov (11-2) has put together a three-fight win streak since joining the UFC, and has won six straight overall. He has not lost since back-to-back setbacks in 2020/21, outside of the UFC.

UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22, 2024 marks the promotion’s debut in the Kingdom. Just days ago, the card suffered a major blow when it was revealed that Khamzat Chimaev was forced out of his main event middleweight fight with ex-champ Robert Whittaker. Chimaev was subsequently replaced by Ikram Aliskerov.

With Lima stepping in against Naimov, the card currently features the following reported match-ups:

• Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov
• Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov
• Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
• Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir
• Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Joilton Lutterbach
• Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon
• Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby
• Kang Kyung-ho vs. Muin Gafurov
• Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
• Xiao Long vs. Lee Chang-ho
• Sedriques Dumas vs. Denis Tiuliulin
• Muhammad Naimov vs. Felipe Lima

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Naimov got off to a hot start in the promotion with a knockout of Jamie Mullarkey and followed that up with a decision win over talented featherweight Nathaniel Wood. His opponent, Erik Silva, came in with an 0-1 record in the UFC and a fourteen month layoff. When the dust settled,

Naimov threw a spinning wheel kick that partially connected to Silva’s head, causing Silva to stumble and fall as the commentary speculated about an injured foot they may have seen. He got back up and Naimov instantly took him down, only for the referee to step in and stop the fight at Erik’s behest. Silva lay in pain on the octagon floor with an unclear ankle injury, while Muhammad celebrated his victory.

Despite the unclear, quick, and bizarre ending, Naimov earnedc his third straight UFC win and inched closer to true contender status. He gave his unique, cylindrical hat to post-fight interviewer Paul Felder and drew massive cheers from the Mexico City crowd when he yelled, “Viva Mexico!”

Official Result: Muhammad Naimov def. Erik Silva by TKO (ankle injury), Round 1, 0:44

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Their preliminary card bout on Saturday saw Wood looking for his fourth straight win at 145 pounds; Naimov was looking for his second win in two fights with the promotion.

The fight began with both fighters trying to control the pace in the centre of the octagon. Wood looked to get his leg kicking game going early on, as he had in his previous fights up a weight. Not long after though, Naimov landed a hellacious right hook which momentarily dropped the Londoner. Wood regained composure and found himself in a clinch, with Naimov controlling the under-hooks. “Hillman” then landed himself a takedown where he showed some aggression with some ground-and-pound.

“The Prospect” consistently looked to make it back to his feet by using the cage to his advantage, but Naimov did well of controlling the position and the wrist of Wood. The Brit then made it back to his feet after a short while on the ground, but Naimov continued to control in the clinch with under-hooks. With the under-hook control on both sides, Naimov tried to dig in a knee to the body but it landed extremely low and the ref broke up the action. When the action continued, Wood went back to the leg kick that he’s found success with, but this time, he put a big straight right hand on the end of it and rocked Naimov. He then landed a trip takedown of his own and found himself on the back of the Tajik. Naimov did extremely well to reverse the position as Wood looked for a kimura, and ended up on top as the round ended.

During the interval, Nathaniel’s head coach, Brad Pickett, told him that he likely lost round one. As soon as round two began, Naimov landed another low blow which straightaway halted the action again. With this being the second time in two rounds, all eyes were on the referee on whether he was going to deduct a point for Naimov. The referee opted against it though and gave Naimov another chance to control his weapons. After the action restarted, Wood landed himself another takedown, but didn’t do anything with it. After Naimov got back to his feet, he did well to get his back to the cage, but from there he used the cage to prevent Wood from taking him down as he grabbed it from behind. The referee once again ushered another warning instead of taking a point. Then Naimov again dug in double under-hooks and landed another takedown of his own. There’s a real question as to whether that takedown should have come at all, given the ref was well within his rights to split them up and taken a point from the Tajik after the fence grab. Again Naimov used his top pressure to just control for the majority of the round.

Wood knew going into the final round that he was likely two rounds down, and Brad Pickett asked for more urgency from the Great British Top Team fighter. In the final round, Wood clearly tried to keep the fight in the centre of the octagon where he could use his striking. Despite that, Wood seemed to be too passive in the early proceedings and Naimov continued to move around the Octagon relatively comfortably. Midway through the round, Nathaniel landed a leg kick which was countered by Naimov with a big head kick. “Hillman” then timed a double leg attempt perfectly, landing it momentarily.

Wood made it back to his feet but still found himself being controlled as Naimov had the dominant double under hooks. Wood managed to break out of the clinch and then started to let his hands go as Naimov seemed to tire. After pinning Naimov back to the cage, he proceeded to land a few heavy straight strikes down the pipe, but Naimov just about survived. With 10 seconds left of the round, Wood pushed Naimov to the ground where he landed a few heavy punches. Naimov dug his fingers into the gloves of Wood, committing yet another foul that was unpunished by the referee. Given the number of fouls, the 29-28 scores in favour of Naimov could have looked very different.

Official Result: Muhammad Naimov def. Nathaniel Wood by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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After starching Jamie Mullarkey on short notice, up a weight class in his UFC debut, big things had to be next for Tajikistan’s Muhammad Naimov. Not only did the UFC find him a fight on the biggest card of the year, UFC 294 from Abu Dhabi, but it’s also against a highly touted featherweight in Englands Nathaniel Wood.

Naimov knows the hype that comes with Wood. While he enjoys that his opponent brings some eyes into the matchup, he’s ready to prove all the English fans that they’ve got this one wrong.

“English people – I just want to prove that they’re thinking wrong,” he said. “[Wood is] definitely not going to [get] past me in this fight. He’s definitely not going to do that.”

All of that comes from a place of respect though. Naimov respects all the opponents who step into the cage with him. Having seen plenty of Wood in the UFC, he knows he is difficult – but with the training Naimov has endured, he is ready for everything.

“I have respect – this is not trash talk, this is real talk,” he shared. “What I’m doing, how I’m training, how stong I am [mentally] – that all makes me believe he can not [get] past me.”

If you ask him for a prediction, he plays it close to the chest. However, he did have a little insight into how the fight might look. Not only that, he had a bit of a message for his opponent this weekend.

“I want to keep it secret, but it’s going to be a finish for sure,” Naimov said with a laugh. “Nathaniel, I’m not sure if you’re going to watch this interview or no – but I promise it’s going to be war, bro. It’s going to be fun.”

You can catch their fight as part of the ESPN+ prelims of UFC 294. Those fights starts at 10am this Saturday.

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