Melsik Baghdasaryan and Murtazali Magomedov meet on the UFC Fight Night 279 main card Saturday at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
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Last event’s results: 5-2
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UFC main cards, 2026: 60-35-1
Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Murtazali Magomedov UFC Fight Night 279 preview
Baghdasaryan (8-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) looks to get back on track after a first-round stoppage loss against Jean Silva. In the fight prior, he won a unanimous decision over Tucker Lutz.
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Magomedov (10-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his debut after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in September. He brings a 100 percent finish rate, split evenly between TKOs and submissions.
Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Murtazali Magomedov UFC Fight Night 279 expert pick, prediction
Serving as another fun pairing at featherweight is a matchup between Melsik Baghdasaryan and Murtazali Magomedov.
Both Baghdasaryan and Magomedov are incredibly dangerous fighters, but they’re also, in their own ways, fighters whom we’ve gotten to see very little.
For example, Baghdasaryan, despite being the more experienced UFC product in this equation, has not fought in over a year and has only appeared in the octagon one time in the last three years.
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While Magomedov, who lacks the known names in his resume, has fought and quickly finished deceptively decent regional talent en route to his promotional debut.
Although Magomedov’s aggression comes with defensive liabilities of his own, his physical approach, both on the feet and on the floor, will likely pay dividends against a fighter who prefers smooth sailing and will still be getting his sea legs underneath him.
The pick is Magomedov to force a stoppage by the beginning of Round 2.
Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Murtazali Magomedov UFC Fight Night 279 odds
The oddsmakers and the public favor the fighter from Kyrgyzstan, listing Magomedov -320 and Baghdasaryan +245 via FanDuel.
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Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Murtazali Magomedov UFC Fight Night 279 start time, how to watch
Baghdasaryan and Magomedov are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 8:40 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on Paramount+.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 119: Baghdasaryan vs. Magomedov prediction, pick, time
