Tale of the tape for Khadis Ibragimov vs. Danilo Marques

In the first of three light heavyweight fights of the night, Khadis Ibragimov and Danilo Marques will kick off UFC 235, an event that will be live at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi and available on pay-per-view this Saturday.

Ibragimov has an 8-3 record, but the Russian has lost his last three fights, his only bouts at the UFC level. He was knocked out in the first round of one fight, lost via unanimous decision in another, and had more significant strikes but was submitted via a guillotine in the third. Standing 6-foot-2, he’ll give up some size to the 6-foot-6 Marques. For Ibragimov, his wins have been pretty spread out: He’s won via two KOs, three submissions, and two decisions.

In the UFC, Ibragimov throws 4.64 significant strikes per minutes while taking 5.8, defending just 48 percent of his opponent’s strikes. He does averaged 1.44 takedowns per 15 minutes, so he isn’t a stranger to fighting on the ground.

As for Marques, the Brazilian will enter with nine wins in his MMA career, four by knockout and four by submission. He hasn’t fought since early 2018. Making his UFC debut, he’ll be 34 will be fighting a young and hungry Ibragimov. Marques did have an early-March fight canceled, so he’s been trying to get back into the octagon.

Here are the betting odds at DraftKings Sportsbook for Khadis Ibragimov vs. Danilo Marques at UFC 253 on September 26th.

Money line odds

Khadis Ibragimov: -162
Danilo Marques: +130

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