Prelim Results | UFC Qatar

When the scorecards were collected and tallied, it was Freeman that emerged victorious, advancing to 7-1 for his career while handing Bujlo his first setback. While far from the most emphatic debut of the year, the American heads home with a win in his promotional debut and plenty of room to grow going forward.

The middleweights spent the first minute of the contest circling each other and feeling one another out, pawing with jabs and trying to read timing. But as soon as Naurdiev committed to letting lose a power shot, it found a home, as “Berzdog” delivered a thudding right hand that ended the fight in a flash.

Naurdiev is now 2-1 in his second stint with the promotion, solidifying his place in the middleweight ranks and reminding everyone why he was a hyped prospect when he first arrived in the UFC years ago as a welterweight. The 29-year-old has a full arsenal of skills and should command another quality assignment next time out after proving to be Loder’s kryptonite in Doha.

While he couldn’t find a finish, Topuria was clearly in control from the halfway point of the first through to the horn. In turning back “The Turan Warrior,” the 29-year-old Georgian bantamweight advanced to 7-1 overall, extending his winning streak to five and putting him in line for another step up in competition whenever he kicks off his 2026 campaign.

In a year filled with impressive debuts and debutants, the unbeaten Dana White’s Contender Series grad announced his presence with a 30-second drubbing of Rafael Cerqueira. Opening with a spinning wheel kick and finishing with a rear-naked choke, the light heavyweight newcomer showed a little bit of everything in his arsenal by running through “The Lion” in Doha.

Born in Chechnya and fighting out of Istanbul, Turkey, the 24-year-old Yakhyaev collected the fastest submission in UFC light heavyweight history to kick off his UFC tenure. Three months removed from earning his contract, “Hunter” has shown that he’s someone to pay close attention to going forward in the 205-pound weight class.

The first two rounds were a lot of what you would expect from a pair of Top 10 flyweight — back-and-forth action where each man had their moments and showed that they carry full arsenals. But as Perez changed levels looking for a takedown in the opening seconds of the third, Almabayev instantly jumped the guillotine, tightening his grip and forcing his American adversary to tap.

That’s now consecutive victories and six wins in seven UFC appearances for the talented Kazakh fighter, with his lone setback coming in a short-notice main event pairing with Manel Kape. As the flyweight division starts to grab the spotlight to close the year, Almabayev picked a great time to tap out a former title challenger and turn in his most impressive performance to date.