A heavyweight bout between Gabriel Gonzaga and Ruslan Magmomedo is reported to have been targeted by the UFC for their upcoming promotional debut in Zagreb, Croatia at UFC Fight Night 85 on April 10th.
Just a few months the 36 year-old Gonzaga’s time in the UFC was under threat after a three fight losing streak to Stipe Miocic, Matt Mitrione and Mirko Cro Cop, but he managed to rebound with a unanimous decision victory against Konstantin Erokhin last month at the TUF 22 Finale in Las Vegas.
However, there’s no escaping the fact that his fight with Erokhin was dreadful, with neither man showing any desire to engage over the course of 15 minutes. In many ways it was reminiscent of Gonzaga’s infamous fight with Kevin Jordan in his UFC debut all the way back in 2005 which is rightfully considered one of the worst bouts in the modern era of the promotion, so he has a lot to prove in this upcoming match-up.
Magomedov is in a better spot in his career, currently enjoying a three-fight winning streak since joining the UFC in 2014, with decision wins over Viktor Pesta, Josh Copeland and Shawn Jordan.
The 29 year-old Russian may lack some of the one-punch KO power of his heavyweight counterparts, but Magomedov has shown good technical boxing skill and movement up to this point.
At this stage it’s not clear where Gonzaga Vs Magomedov will feature on the UFC Fight Night 85 card which is still in it’s formative stages.
