Even at 41 years of age, Nicolas Dalby continues to keep father time at bay as one of the most veteran competitors on the UFC’s welterweight roster.
Nicolas Dalby Thrown To Young Welterweight Lion at UFC Qatar
Stepping into his 15th bout in the organization this past weekend in the middle east, Nicolas Dalby found himself in a precarious situation. Riding a then two-fight losing skid, he was coming off of a disappointing split decision defeat to Rinat Fakhretdinov and suffering a blistering knockout to Randy Brown. From an optics perspective, it seemed as though the Dane was fighting to keep his second run in the global leader in mixed martial arts alive.
However, in his second tilt of 2025, Nicolas Dalby was done no favors as he prepared to face off with one of the brightest welterweight prospects coming out of the vaunted Dagestan region. As high as a +340 underdog on some sportsbooks, he was tasked with welcoming hot promotional new-comer Saygid Izagakhmaev.
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Born and raised in Makhachkala, Russia, Izagakhmaev shined on the international scene during his run on the European regional circuit. It was his three-bout stint with premier martial arts promoter ONE Championship that the 31-year old welterweight began to grow a name for himself, winning three contests back-to-back under their banner. His most notable victory in that stretch of combat came when he stopped one of the greatest Japanese competitors of all time, as well as an icon of the sport, Shinya Aoki, finishing “Tobikan Judan” with a monumental first round knockout.
Nicolas Dalby Conquers Odds Once More
With his back to the proverbial wall, Nicolas Dalby had a lot to lose in what could have wound up being his final walk to the Octagon at the packed Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiyah Arena in Qatar. However, as “Danish Dynamite” has demonstrated in the past with his phenomenal welterweight victory over the then-undefeated Gabriel Bonfim, he always has what it takes to stem the rise of his younger, elite contemporaries.
Replicating the same success he had against the Brazilian, Dalby managed to best his fellow European, Izagakhmaev, to score easily the biggest upset on the entire card. The stats for the fight told a tale of a tight battle between the well-rounded athletes, with both men landing nearly that same amount of significant strikes and racking up almost identical levels of control time. Taking the Dagestani the distance, Dalby reentered the win column with a hard-fought split decision, handing the surging welterweight his first loss since January 2021.
