Thatch (left) and Bahadurzada (right)

AOPNEWS | December 16, 2015

According to the official UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) site, Afghan mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, Siyar “The Great” Bahadurzada will have his fourth fight in the UFC on Sunday, February 21, 2016 as part of UFC Fight Night 82 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA). Bahadurzada’s opponent will be American fighter Brandon “Rukus” Thatch who has a record of 11 wins and 3 losses. Bahadurzada currently has 21 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw. Both fighters are coming off of double losses. Thatch lost both of his previous fights via submission, and Bahadurzada was out-grappled twice in a row and lost via unanimous decision.

Bahadurzada’s grappling, particularly, his wrestling has shown to be his weakest skill set since joining the UFC. He won his first fight in the UFC by knocking out Paulo Thiago in the first round. On December 1st, Bahadurzada did post a picture of himself on his Facebook page next to his private wrestling coach Lenny Lovato, so hopefully, he has been working hard on his grappling skills. If not, luckily, for Bahadurzada, Thatch is also known as a striker. The UFC has been known to release fighters who have lost more than 2  matches in a row, so this fight is critical for Bahadurzada if he wants to stay in the UFC, which is the largest MMA promotion company and has the best fighters.