🚨BREAKING: A fight between Baisangur Susurkaev and Damian Pinas is in works as a featuted bout at UFC 335 on December 12th in Las Vegas. Pinas steps in to replace Ryan Gandra.
A middleweight matchup between Baisangur Susurkaev and Damian Pinas is reportedly being put together for UFC 335 in Las Vegas on December 12. The pairing is described as in the works rather than finalized, and the promotion has not confirmed it. Pinas would step in to replace Ryan Gandra on the card.
The fighters
Susurkaev arrives unbeaten at 12-0. The 25-year-old Orthodox fighter stands six-foot-two with a 79-inch reach, and his game is built on grappling. He averages 2.76 takedowns per 15 minutes and 0.7 submission attempts in the same span, against a modest 4.56 significant strikes landed per minute at 59 percent accuracy. His most recent recorded fight came on May 9 at UFC 328, where he submitted Djorden Santos in the third round. Before that, he finished Eric McConico by KO/TKO in the third round at UFC 322 and submitted Eric Nolan in the second round at UFC 319.
Pinas, 24, is 11-1 and known as "The Babayaga." He is six-foot-one with the same 79-inch reach as Susurkaev. He lands 6.05 significant strikes per minute at 63 percent accuracy and has not attempted a takedown or submission in the recorded numbers. His most recent recorded fight was a first-round KO/TKO of Andrey Pulyaev on October 3 at UFC 332. That extended a run of three straight first-round stoppages in our records, following Cesar Almeida at UFC 329 and Wes Schultz in February.
Gandra, the fighter Pinas would replace, is also 11-1. He had won three in a row by first-round KO/TKO, most recently over Ozzy Diaz on September 19 at UFC 331.
Why it matters
- Style contrast: Susurkaev's grappling volume meets a striker who has finished his last three fights inside one round.
- Matched dimensions: both men are 79 inches in reach, and Susurkaev holds a one-inch height edge.
- Unbeaten record at stake: Susurkaev's 12-0 mark would be tested by the only fighter in this pairing with a loss.
- Quick turnaround: Pinas fought on October 3, so a December 12 date would put roughly ten weeks between bouts.
The pairing is not official until the UFC announces it.
