Nicolau vs Almabayev

Who won Nicolau vs Almabayev?

Asu Almabaev beat Matheus Nicolau by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the prelims of UFC Fight Night, on Saturday 19th October 2024 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Asu Almabaev.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Flyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 125 pounds (8.9 stone or 56.7 KG).

Nicolau vs Almabayev stats

Matheus Nicolau stepped into the octagon with a record of 19 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, 5 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 5 by submission.

Asu Almabaev made his way to the cage with a record of 20 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 3 of those wins coming by knock out and 9 by submission.

This was Matheus Nicolau's 11th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2015. Asu Almabaev marked his 4th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2023.

Matheus Nicolau's UFC record stood at 7-4-0, while Asu Almabaev's came in at 4-0-0.

The stats suggested Nicolau had an advantage in power over Almabaev, with a 26% knock out percentage over Almabaev's 15%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Almabaev had an advantage over Nicolau, with a 45% submission rate over Nicolau's 26%.

Matheus Nicolau was the older man by 1 year, at 31 years old.

Nicolau had a height advantage of 1 inch over Almabaev.

Nicolau was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had the same amount of fights, and made his debut in 2010, 2 years and 9 months earlier than Almabaev, whose first professional fight was in 2013. He had fought the same amount of professional rounds, 55 to Almabaev's 55.

Nicolau vs Almabayev form

Nicolau had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Alex Perez at UFC Fight Night: Nicolau vs. Perez on 27th April 2024 by knockout in the 2nd round at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had been beaten by Brandon Royval at UFC Fight Night – Holloway vs. Allen on 15th April 2023 by knockout in the 1st round at T-Mobile Center, Kansas City.

Going into that contest, he had won against Matt Schnell at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland on 3rd December 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Amway Center, Orlando.

Before that, he had beaten David Dvorak at UFC Fight Night Columbus on 26th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Nationwide Arena, Columbus.

He had defeated Tim Elliott at UFC Vegas 39 on 9th October 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

Nicolau's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 11 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.2 rounds on average.

What time did Nicolau vs Almabayev start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 9:40 PM UTC , which was 5:40 PM EST or 2:40 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 10:40 PM BST in the UK.

What were the odds on Nicolau vs Almabayev?

Matheus Nicolau was a 13/8 (+190) underdog going into the contest, while Asu Almabaev made his way into the ring at 12/25 (-230) with oddsmakers.