Myktybek Orolbai
Kyrgyzstan
Picks up first-round stoppage
Orolbai defeated Jack Hermansson via KO (punch) at 2:46 of Round 1 at UFC Qatar on Saturday.
ANALYSIS
Orolbai, who was moving up a weight class, faced a fighter in Hermansson who was moving down, but the size disadvantage didn't make the least bit of difference. Orolbai came out aggressive and paid for it with a few jabs, but he eventually found a right hand that compromised his opponent. He found another massive right hand in his barrage of follow-up shots that turned Hermansson's lights out for good. Orolbai has now won four of five UFC fights, and he may have found a new home at 170 pounds.
Orolbai, who was moving up a weight class, faced a fighter in Hermansson who was moving down, but the size disadvantage didn't make the least bit of difference. Orolbai came out aggressive and paid for it with a few jabs, but he eventually found a right hand that compromised his opponent. He found another massive right hand in his barrage of follow-up shots that turned Hermansson's lights out for good. Orolbai has now won four of five UFC fights, and he may have found a new home at 170 pounds.
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Hermansson fight at welterweight
Orolbai is scheduled to compete against Jack Hermansson in a welterweight fight at UFC Qatar on Nov, 22, MMA Junkie reports.
ANALYSIS
Orolbai will move up a weight class from lightweight to welterweight, while his opponent is moving down a weight class from middleweight. Orolbai's last fight, UFC Baku on June 21, saw him defeat Tofiq Musayev via a first-round kimura lock.
Orolbai will move up a weight class from lightweight to welterweight, while his opponent is moving down a weight class from middleweight. Orolbai's last fight, UFC Baku on June 21, saw him defeat Tofiq Musayev via a first-round kimura lock.
Gets right back in win column
Orolbai defeated Tofiq Musayev via submission (kimura) at 4:35 of Round 1 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan.
ANALYSIS
Orolbai is a brawler, but he's also a plenty underrated grappler, as Musayev found out here. Knowing full well the elite, fight-ending power his opponent possessed, Orolbai simply leaned on his wrestling game, going 3-of-5 on takedowns and racking up 3:40 worth of control time. He locked on the kimura perfectly, and Musayev found himself tapping out moments later. It was a strong rebound performance from Orolbai on the heels of a split decision defeat to a quality opponent in Mateusz Rebecki last October.
Orolbai is a brawler, but he's also a plenty underrated grappler, as Musayev found out here. Knowing full well the elite, fight-ending power his opponent possessed, Orolbai simply leaned on his wrestling game, going 3-of-5 on takedowns and racking up 3:40 worth of control time. He locked on the kimura perfectly, and Musayev found himself tapping out moments later. It was a strong rebound performance from Orolbai on the heels of a split decision defeat to a quality opponent in Mateusz Rebecki last October.
Musayev fight at 165
Orolbai is scheduled to compete against Tofiq Musayev in a 165-pound catchweight fight at UFC Baku on Saturday, per Nolan King of MMA Junkie.
ANALYSIS
Orolbai and Musayev's upcoming fight will be at 10 pounds above the UFC's lightweight limit. The former will look to bounce back from a split-decision loss at UFC 308 in October.
Orolbai and Musayev's upcoming fight will be at 10 pounds above the UFC's lightweight limit. The former will look to bounce back from a split-decision loss at UFC 308 in October.
Scheduled against hometown debutant
Orolbai is scheduled to compete against Tofiq Musayev in a lightweight fight at UFC Baku on June 21, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
Orolbai's next opponent is from Azerbaijan, which may be why he is making his debut at UFC Baku on June 21. Though without UFC experience, the latter is 22-5 in his professional career, which indicates Orolbai will not have a clear-cut path to victory come late-June.
Orolbai's next opponent is from Azerbaijan, which may be why he is making his debut at UFC Baku on June 21. Though without UFC experience, the latter is 22-5 in his professional career, which indicates Orolbai will not have a clear-cut path to victory come late-June.
Suffers first UFC defeat
Orolbai lost to Mateusz Rebecki via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 28-29) at UFC 308 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
ANALYSIS
It's a crushing result for Orolbai as a -325 favorite, but was also the correct decision. Hampered by an eye injury that left his vision impaired nearly the entire bout, Orolbai never fully appeared to find his rhythm. He did enough to even the fight on all three scorecards in Round 2, but he was knocked down early in the final frame in what was the biggest moment of the bout and was never able to truly recover. With both men a bloody, beaten mess when the final bell rang, only one of the three judges scored the fight for the 26-year-old. Orolbai is plenty young enough to bounce back from this effort, but it's a pretty disappointing outcome. On the bright side, he'll walk away with an extra $50,000 after this bout was deservingly awarded Fight of the Night honors.
It's a crushing result for Orolbai as a -325 favorite, but was also the correct decision. Hampered by an eye injury that left his vision impaired nearly the entire bout, Orolbai never fully appeared to find his rhythm. He did enough to even the fight on all three scorecards in Round 2, but he was knocked down early in the final frame in what was the biggest moment of the bout and was never able to truly recover. With both men a bloody, beaten mess when the final bell rang, only one of the three judges scored the fight for the 26-year-old. Orolbai is plenty young enough to bounce back from this effort, but it's a pretty disappointing outcome. On the bright side, he'll walk away with an extra $50,000 after this bout was deservingly awarded Fight of the Night honors.