Michel Pereira will be looking to get back on track in the UFC middleweight division when he faces Abus Magomedov at UFC Fight Night: Kansas City on April 26th.
Pereira (31-12 MMA, 9-3 UFC) had been on somewhat of a tear prior to losing his last fight late in 2024. In the space of just six months the former welterweight stopped his first three opponents at 185 lbs inside the opening round, beginning with a TKO victory over Andre Petroski followed by two submission wins over Michal Oleksijczuk and Ihor Potieria.
This brought his winning streak over both weight classes to eight, but that run came to an abrupt halt in October as Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez stopped him in the fifth and final round of their main event clash at the UFC Apex.
The 31-year-old Brazilian gets an opportunity to return to winning ways when he takes on Abus Magomedov (27-6-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) when the UFC rolls into Missouri in April.
Magomedov, who enjoyed a strong run under the PFL banner back in 2018, announced his arrival inside the UFC Octagon in style with a 19-second KO win over Dustin Stoltzfus in September of 2022.
The German-based Dagestani middleweight lost to both Sean Strickland and Caio Borralho in 2023, but got back on track in 2024 picking up wins over Warlley Alves and Brunno Ferreira.
He will now face his fouth consecutive Brazilian opponent, with a place in the UFC middleweight rankings likely to be on the line. While Magomedov is currently unranked, Pereira sits in fifteenth spot.
There's no word yet who will be headlining the fight card in Kansas City. The only other matchup confirmed for the event to date sees Georgia's Giga Chikadze move up to 155 lbs to take on David Onama in a fight that had originally been booked to take place at the UFC Apex on April 5th.
