Preview: UFC Baku Prelims

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday debuts in a new market and will do so with a healthy UFC on ABC 8 undercard this Saturday at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. There’s a clear effort to provide some regional flavor, but that’s not at all present in the featured spot, where Oban Elliott and Seok Hyeon Ko—two welterweights who were unable to show up for work in May—are paired against each other in an odd bit of matchmaking. The most interesting bout of the bunch sees Tagir Ulanbekov look to defend his flyweight ranking against a late replacement and talented prospect in Azat Maksum, though Ismail Naurdiev gets a major opportunity in a middleweight clash with Jun Yong Park. Beyond that, heavyweight Hamdy Abdelwahab tries to stay undefeated, and two women’s bantamweight tilts should help sort out the lower reaches of the 135-pound weight class.

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