UFC Fight Night 235 is set to deliver thrilling matchups, including a middleweight clash featuring Aliaskhab Khizriev and Makhmud Muradov. The event will take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, February 3, with the main card starting at 7:00 PM ET. Currently, Khizriev is considered to be the favorite with a moneyline of -180.

Khizriev has successfully won in all 12 professional career battles in MMA, with two recent ones being a debut in Dana White’s Contender Series and his debut in the UFC. His most recent victory was a second round rear-naked choke submission over Denis Tiuliulin at UFC on ESPN 33 in March 2022.

He takes pride in a fight record of 12 wins, featuring five knockouts, four submissions, and three decisions. Notably, eight of these triumphs were achieved in the opening round.

Known as "Black Wolf," he maintains a striking accuracy of 64 percent, coupled with a 60 percent success rate in takedowns. Each minute of action sees him delivering 6.03 significant strikes while absorbing 4.36, providing a commendable margin of error.

On average, he secures 5.77 takedowns and 3.85 submissions per 15 minutes of fight time. His defensive skills include a 63 percent success rate against significant strikes and a robust 100 percent against takedowns.

Muradov boasts plenty of experience fighting professionally, but will have a tough test here. He has gone 1-2 over his last three fights but was able to snap a two-fight losing streak. This recent success was a unanimous decision over Bryan Barberena at UFC Fight Night 224 in July of last year.

He has compiled 26 wins that show 17 knockouts, three submissions, and six decisions. 10 of these wins have ended in the opening round of action, while half of his eight losses have come by submission.

“Mach” currently strikes with an accuracy at 44 percent and lands takedowns at 67 percent of the time. He delivers 4.21 significant strikes each minute and takes on 2.56 in return, making this a positive separation between the two averages.

He maintains an average of 3.04 takedowns per 15 minutes and boasts 0.18 submissions in his statistical performance. Demonstrating a strong defense, he effectively fends off significant strikes at a 61 percent rate and takedowns at an impressive 78 percent.

MyBookie has the odds for this showdown, revealing  Aliaskhab Khizriev is a favorite (-180) to potentially win. Both fighters have shown explosive skills that can end a battle quickly, making this an appealing matchup.

This could be a lot closer than the odds are indicating. While Khizriev is an appealing option to win, you must take his odds with a grain of salt.