LAS VEGAS – Asu Almabayev beat Matheus Nicolau with a unanimous decision Saturday to close out the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 245 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Almabayev, who won for the 17th straight time.
Asu Almabayev def. Matheus Nicolau
Asu Almabayev
Result: Asu Almabayev def. Matheus Nicolau via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Almabayev (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC), Nicolau (19-6-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC)
Key stats: Almabayev has had more than 26 minutes of total control time over the 45 minutes of his past three decision wins. But after landing 15 combined takedowns his past two fights, he had just one against Nicolau.
Almabayev on the fight’s key moment
Asu Almabayev def. Matheus Nicolau, UFC Fight Night 245 (via UFC)
“I’m happy. It’s not easy to win the fight. Every opponent’s doing hard work and coming here to fight and to win, so I’m very happy that I won. (The game plan) was just to win. I wanted to wrestle, but (Nicolau) is tough – he’s No. 7 in the rankings. During the fight, I changed the game plan a little.”
Almabayev on Nicoalu’s takedown defense
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 19: (L-R) Matheus Nicolau of Brazil punches Asu Almabayev of Kazakstan in a flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
“I was not surprised (at his takedown defense) because every fighter knows that I’ll try to take them down. After the first and second, I saw that (he was good at stopping me). What can I do? So I tried to improve the positions all the time.”
Almabayev on what he wants next
May 4, 2024; Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BRAZIL; Alexandre Pantoja (red gloves) fights against Steve Erceg (blue gloves) during UFC 301 at Rio Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports
“I will come back home and we’ll watch the fight again. We need to learn all the time. Give me one chance for the belt (against champion Alexandre Pantoja).”
To hear more from Almabayev, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.
