Preview: UFC Vegas 104 Prelims

Light Heavyweights

Diyar Nurgozhay (10-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (16-7, 1-2 UFC)

ODDS: Nurgozhay (-355), Ribeiro (+280)

The UFC’s light heavyweight division could always use some fresh talent, and Kazakhstan’s Nurgozhay is the latest newcomer to try and crash the party. Nurgozhay’s win on the Contender Series in October just about told the story of his approach as it currently stands. He was a bit on the patient side, even overly so, but eventually made his offense count with an accurate and brutal knockout in the second round. Nurgozhay takes his time to get his work done, which will probably come back to bite him at some point, but on the regional scene, he showed an ability to carry his power into multiple rounds, even if he did still tire over time. Ribeiro is a worthy first test in the UFC for Nurgozhay, though the Brazilian’s career has gone a bit sideways since his own contract-earning knockout on the Contender Series in 2023. Through his UFC debut against Mingyang Zhang, Ribeiro had a fairly clear kill-or-be-killed approach that focused around hunting for a knockout. However, a knockout loss to Zhang might have been one too many for the Brazilian. In his two fights since, he has adopted a much more cautious approach focused on picking at his opponent from range and even wrestling as needed. Ribeiro finally got back into the win column against Caio Machado in November, but it’s hard to say the results have been inspiring. He might prove able to frustrate Nurgozhay for a bit, but it’s difficult not to see the UFC newcomer eventually landing a big moment of offense. The pick is Nurgozhay via second-round knockout.

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