“Obviously, it’s great because it’s very close to home, but before the UFC, I had 40, 45 fights that were very close to home as well,” he said. “What’s important is that on the night of the fight, it’s just me, my opponent, and nobody else is gonna be there to fight for us. It doesn’t matter where the fight is because it’s between the two of us, and that’s it.”
A member of Dana White’s Contender Series Class of ’24, Pulyaev is himself a tall and rangy member of the middleweight class, and while he hasn’t enjoyed the same amount of success as Ruziboev has thus far, his strength of schedule has been strong.
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After dropping his debut to currently ranked Brit Christian Leroy Duncan and collecting his first win over fellow DWCS alum Nick Klein last summer, the 28-year-old Russian pushed rising star Ateba Gautier to his limits in January, losing by unanimous decision but giving a good account of himself, nonetheless.
The pair kick off what should be an eventful night in the division, as the four sets of competitors scheduled to hit the Octagon all sit in the same range just outside the rankings heading into the weekend, and will be jockeying for position through their performances on Saturday night in Baku.
