UFC Nashville: Who is Assu Almabayev?
Coming out to make his first walk into the UFC airspace and hailing out of Kazakhstan is Assu Almabayev (17-2), who will open up the UFC Nashville card against Ode Osbourne (12-5). Almabayev fights in the flyweight division and is currently riding a hot 13-fight winning streak. According to Tapology, he is the No.1 ranked flyweight in Asia Central, Kazakhstan, and Middle East.
It has been a long time coming for Almabayev and he has been holding out since his last victory in November when he defeated his opponent via rear naked choke in the second round. The highly touted prospect has a 63 percent finish rate with three KO/TKOs and eight submissions to his name.
Reflective on his record, Almabayev is a grappler with efficient takedowns who transitions into dominant control and eventually submits you. His favorite position from his tape of highlights is establishing back control and securing rear naked chokes, which he has five that have fallen victim to. Almabaev's fighting style can be best described as if he gets hit or taken down he immediately wants to get you back and make an emphasis that he has the upper hand.
Almabayev looks forward to staying undefeated since 2017 and with the help of his training partner, No. 6 ranked UFC welterweight, Shavkat Rakhmonov, he will strive for a finish against the UFC veteran. According to DraftKings, he is currently a small favorite against Osbourne at (-192), meanwhile, the underdog is listed at odds of (+160).
Ode Osbourne looks to wreck Almabayev's debut by extending his winning streak two with a win. Osbourne is a UFC veteran with this being his eighth fight in the organization with a record of four wins and three losses during those three years.
Earlier this year he managed to get back into the winning column by defeating Charles Johnson via split decision. Typically known as a striker, he faces a tough challenge with an opponent looking to wrestle and control him. Osbourne in his UFC tenure has suffered two losses by KO/TKO and another via submission. A significant advantage favors Osbourne in his size because he holds three inches in height and eight inches in reach against Almabayev.
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