There was a lot of hype around the signing of Rinat Fakhretdinov in the UFC, as he became the first Tatar in the history of sports to be awarded a contract with the best MMA organization on the planet. However, the protracted selection of the opponent postponed the debut of Gladiator for almost a year, so at the UFC Fight Night 216 tournament he will hold only the second fight under the auspices of the absolute championship.


Initially, Rinat was supposed to fight with Michael Morales, but just a couple of weeks before the fight, he withdrew, and now our athlete is waiting for a duel with the winner of the penultimate season of the TUF show, Brian Battle, who has already managed to get a couple of finishes in the octagon. Their meeting will take place on the undercard of the tournament on December 18, and we will figure out which of the guys has more chances to emerge victorious from this fight.

On Tuesday, December 6, at the Lusail Ikonik Stadium, a duel between Portugal and Switzerland will take place as part of the 1/8 finals of the World Cup.