UFC Southpaw Report: UFC Saudi Arabia

Southpaw Report: UFC Saudi Arabia

Hello and welcome to the ever-popular southpaw report, which can now be found here exclusively at Home of Fight!

Aside from the fact that most statistics you see on major broadcasts are drawn from a faulty well of information full of misinterpretation and human error, the statistical categories discussed generally lack proper sample sizes and contexts.

So, with that in mind, I try to provide unique, applicable and (hopefully) interesting stats in the form of my patent southpaw reports.

Here, I will do my best to provide you with everything from stats to written and visual analysis covering every fighter facing a dedicated southpaw on upcoming UFC cards.

With Andre Muniz vs. Ikram Aliskerov being moved to another card, UFC Saudi Arabia features a limited number of dedicated southpaws. That said, I was able to highlight a unique southpaw trend with one of the fighters in the main event, so let’s get started!

Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov

Summary: Israel Adesanya, who faces Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia, is a switch-stance fighter who wields sophisticated attacks from both sides. However, many of his opponents’ biggest successes came when Adesanya was in his southpaw stance.

Israel Adesanya’s southpaw trends: https://x.com/DanTomMMA/status/1885199128579498143

Fighters like Anderson Silva, Kelvin Gastelum and Dricus Du Plessis appeared particularly prepared to blitz Adesanya whenever he switched.

As fighters like Dominick Cruz have said on many UFC broadcasts, “defense is a lot harder to learn in an opposite stance than offense is.”

My prediction: Despite Imavov’s counters and offensive aggression seemingly getting sharper, I don’t think he has the durability or defensive savvy of the examples listed above to take full advantage of this trend.

Don’t get me wrong, Adesanya is starting to get up there in age and mileage, so no one should be shocked if fighters like Imavov can start to figure the former champion out at this point in his career.

That said, I’ll be sticking with the experience, skills and stamina of Adesanya to pull away down the stretch for a decision win.

Jamal Pogues vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab

Summary: Jamal Pogues, who faces Hamdy Abdelwahab at UFC Saudi Arabia, is officially 1-0 opposite UFC-level southpaws (beating Thomas Peterson).

Despite fighting orthodox in his UFC debut, Adbelwahab lists himself as a southpaw. But if Abdelwahab does come out as a southpaw this Saturday, then we should get more of a sample size of Pogues in open-stance affairs.

Jamal Pogues’ southpaw report: https://x.com/DanTomMMA/status/1885214991458152739

When facing southpaws, Pogues shows little concern for things like outside-foot awareness (which helps beat the lead foot of your opponent in order to line up your power hand and avoid theirs). However, the American does keep an active lead hand that he uses to set up shots coming forward and off the counter.

The downside, though, is that Pogues’ technique and fast hands have a propensity to fade down the stretch.

My prediction: Even though both men are prone to tiring as a fight goes late, Abdelwahab appears to the party who can fight through exhaustion a bit better. Add in the fact that Abdelwahab is the bigger hitter and more natural heavyweight, and I’ll pick the Egyptian fighter to stop Pogues via strikes by Round 3.

Shamil Gaziev vs. Thomas Peterson

Summary: Shamil Gaziev, who faces southpaw Thomas Peterson at UFC Saudi Arabia, is officially 0-0 against UFC-level southpaws.

That said, Gaziev did show a solid right hand when presented with open-stance looks against the UFC’s Don’Tale Mayes and Contender Series southpaw Greg Velasco.

Shamil Gaziev’s southpaw report: https://x.com/DanTomMMA/status/1885219573500399852

My prediction: With both fighters’ wrestling bases likely canceling each other out early, we’re likely in for a sloppy striking affair that goes over from a totals perspective. Gaziev’s propensity to gas will likely make this sweaty for his backers late, but I’ll pick the Russian-born fighter to do enough damage to Peterson early to secure a win on the scorecards.

This concludes the southpaw report for UFC Saudi Arabia. Be sure to check back here on UFC fight weeks for this report and more.

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