With Team Cormier up 3-1 against Team Sonnen, The American Gangster tries to get back in the competition as flyweights return to the cage with Uzbekistan’s Furkatbek Yokubov squaring off against Kazakhstani Alibi Idiris. While they may be opponents in the cage, the two competitors have a mutual bond in their faith.
While the two flyweights are practicing Muslims, Idiris discusses the struggles of fighting Yokubov to get ahead. “In the house, we’re family. But in the octagon, we’re enemies,” Idiris said.
During Team Cormier’s training session, assistant coach and TUF 15 winner, Michael Chiesa, brought in former two-time flyweight champion and season 24 contestant, Brandon Moreno.
While Moreno was the last picked contestant on his season and lost his only fight on the show to flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja, The Assassin Baby did enough to impress Dana White and win a UFC contract. After going 3-2 in his first UFC run, Moreno was eventually released from the company in 2018.
After winning the LFA flyweight championship in his first fight after being cut, Moreno was rehired by the UFC and became a two-time flyweight champion after beating the former champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, on two separate occasions at UFC 263 and UFC 283. Moreno is also the first Mexican-born fighter in UFC history to win a championship.
During his coaching session with Team Cormier, Moreno drilled his signature boxing stance and grappling offense with the contestants. Despite losing his season of TUF, many flyweight contestants took inspiration from Moreno in their own careers, like South Africa’s Tumelo Manyamala.
“Training with Brandon Moreno is honestly such a dream. I watched him on his season of TUF where he lost his first fight. He still became a world champion,” Manyamala said.
Back at the house, Idiris talks with welterweight contestant, Daniil Donchenko, about the motivations he has for competing that his family brings out.
Living in Aktobe, Kazakhstan, a small city in the country’s western region, the flyweight draws inspiration from his family’s support. “When things are tough, when I don’t want to train, when I have a rough weight cut, I look at them and they energize me,” Idiris said.
On the other side, Team Sonnen’s Yokubov touches on the struggles of missing his daughter while being on the show. Despite living in Dubai with his family, the Uzbekistan native discussed the passing of his mother for wanting to fight.
“She died in the hospital, you know, the night before she died, she said don’t give up, just continue. One day (you) become a famous champion” Yokubov said.
On fight day, Daniel Cormier brought in former NFL player and ESPN Commentator, Ryan Clark, to talk with the contestants about performing under pressure. “These moments, they don’t come around often, and that dude standing on the other side of the cage, his life, his goals, his dreams… are in direct opposition of yours,” Clark said.
“When you stand across from somebody whose life goals directly impact yours, you gotta say only one of us gets to live this dream,” Clark said.
With both flyweights looking to make a name for themselves, this bout is seen as the most competitive matchup so far this season.
As the first round began, Team Sonnen’s Yokubov began pressuring Idiris against the cage and controlling distance. With Idiris feinting his takedowns, Yokubov was unfazed with volume starting to mount against him.
With two minutes left in the round, both fighters began to clinch, resulting in a groin strike to Idiris that led to a break in the action. With the flyweights picking up where they left off, Idiris immediately shot for a takedown to get control of his opponent and drag him across the cage.
Despite Yokubov grabbing the fence numerous times, Idiris got control of his opponent’s back as the clock continued to keep winding down. Idiris would eventually end the round on top after maintaining ground-and-pound strikes to take control.
During round two, Yokubov started the same way round one began by trading shots with his opponent throughout the octagon until Idiris landed an eye-poke against the cage. Referee Jason Herzog would respond by taking a point away from Idiris after reminding him to watch where he is throwing his strikes.
Despite the point deduction, Idiris would take Yokubov down and lock up an arm-triangle choke less than halfway through the round. Idiris would lose the choke but still maintained ground control, smothering Yokubov.
With both flyweights appearing fatigued, Yokubov would get back to his feet for a brief moment before being dragged to the ground again to end the round.
Even though a point was deducted, Idiris would win the fight by unanimous decision and give Team Cormier a 4-1 lead.
With the welterweights returning to action, Team Sonnen’s Matt Dixon was pitted against Team Cormier’s Alex Sanchez. Despite losing on Dana White’s Contender Series to Orion Cosce in 2020, it remains Dixon’s only professional loss with seven knockouts under his belt. For Sanchez, he comes into the bout with eight knockouts, and his last loss also being in 2020.