UFC 242 which is set to go down in Abu Dhabi has added a very intriguing heavyweight bout between Curtis Blaydes and Shamil Abdurakhimov. The news of the fight was first reported by Farah Hannoun on Twitter.
Blaydes last fought at UFC Nashville where he beat Justin Willis by unanimous decision. The win got him back to his winning ways after getting knocked out to Francis Ngannou at UFC Beijing.
The American has notable wins over the likes of Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt, and Alexey Oleynik among others. He is currently ranked fourth in the heavyweight division and a win here could very well put him in the title shot conversation.
Abdurakhimov, meanwhile, is riding a three-fight winning streak with wins over Marcin Tybura, Andrei Arlovski, and Chase Sherman. The Russian has also beat Walt Harris, and Anthony Hamilton among others. However, when he gets close to the top-five, he loses the big fight, as evident by his loss to Tim Johnson and Derrick Lewis.
The Russian is getting a step-up in competition as he has a shot to enter the top-five. He is currently ranked 10th.
UFC 242 goes down on September 7 and is expected to be headlined by Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier. Where this fight will be on the card is unknown.
