UFC 272: Tim Elliott to get funky on the feet against “not super dangerous” Tagir Ulanbekov

Tim Elliott is planning on having fun at UFC 272.

Elliott returns to action for the first time in 2022 in front of a sold-out Las Vegas arena, something he hasn’t done since UFC 246 back before the pandemic. He fights Tagir Ulanbekov, who is undefeated in the UFC.

The 35-year old Glory MMA staple wasn’t too intrigued with the Russian but likes the fact that he has not lost inside the Octagon and possesses a good record.

“Nothing really [intrigues me]; it was just a fight that I could get after my original opponent fell through. I don’t mind the matchup; he’s a good wrestler, he’s a big guy. But he’s not super dangerous, and when guys don’t have a real big danger factor, then I get to have more fun,” Elliot told The AllStar. “When I’m having fun and moving around, I’m a dangerous man.”

While Elliot is focused on enjoying his time in the cage at UFC 272, he plans to go three rounds with his Russian opponent. The 16-fight UFC veteran thinks that his opponent will try and outpoint him, but with his notorious cardio, he can take Ulanbkov into deep waters.

“You know, that’s the thing, I feel like I’m going to have to have a very exciting first round and really push the pace. It’s in a big cage which is good for me in this fight because he’s going to try and come forward to take me down, I’m sure, so I got to move,” Elliot said. “So, like I said, I need that first round. I’m going to stay super active; I have to be busy in this fight and really push the pace. He seemed to kind of fade a little bit in the last two fights, and so my cardio is good for this one. I’m going to try and drag him deep too. I don’t see him going away easy; he’s definitely going to be tough and hard to finish.

“I see this being a three-round fight, but I’m going to have a high punch rate. This is one of those fights where I don’t have to do anything except not get pushed up against the fence and not get taken down. James [Krause] has given me to green light to let me be funky on my feet.”

Elliot is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Matheus Nicolau, which snapped his two-fight win streak. He and his coach James Krause identified his mistakes in that fight. He says it was a critical mistake to sit on the bottom, ultimately costing him the fight.

Retooled and refocused, Elliot plans to defend his No. 13 ranking at UFC 272, while having fun.

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Fighter profile

Tim Elliott is a 35 year old male fighter from United States with 17 pro wins and 12 losses. Elliott is scheduled to fight Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal on Saturday March 5, 2022.

Tim Elliott’s recent form coming into this matchup

Tim Elliott has gone 2-3 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.

• Loss vs Matheus Nicolau • Decision R3 5:00 • 2021-10-09
• Win vs Jordan Espinosa • Decision R3 5:00 • 2021-03-06
• Win vs Ryan Benoit • Decision R3 5:00 • 2020-07-15
• Loss vs Brandon Royval • Submission R2 3:18 • 2020-05-30
• Loss vs Askar Askarov • Decision R3 5:00 • 2020-01-18

Tim Elliott’s next opponent: Tagir Ulanbekov

Tagir Ulanbekov’s recent form coming into this matchup

Tagir Ulanbekov is a 30 year old male fighter from Russia with 13 pro wins and 1 losses. Ulanbekov is scheduled to fight Tim Elliott at UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal on Saturday March 5, 2022.

Tagir Ulanbekov has gone 5-0 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.

• Win vs Allan Nascimento • Decision R3 5:00 • 2021-10-30
• Win vs Bruno Silva • Decision R3 5:00 • 2020-10-10
• Win vs Denilson Matos • Submission R2 1:20 • 2019-12-13
• Win vs Denis Araujo • Submission R2 3:19 • 2019-09-27
• Win vs Aleksandr Podlesniy • Decision R3 5:00 • 2019-05-03

How to watch and bet on Tim Elliott vs Tagir Ulanbekov

Keep track of all the latest odds and line-movements at our bout page for this matchup.