First Fight Booked for UFC 334 Card at Madison Square Garden

The UFC's annual visit to Madison Square Garden is always one of the biggest events of the year.

(Zuffa LLC)

The first fight for November’s UFC 334 event at Madison Square Garden has officially been set.

Beginning in 2016 with UFC 205, Madison Square Garden has become an annual stop for the UFC and has hosted some of the promotion’s biggest events and fights over the last 10 years.

The iconic venue will once against host the Octagon on November 14 for UFC 334, and it didn’t take long after the UFC announced the date for fans to start speculating on what fights the UFC could possibly have planned for the occasion.

Nazim Sadykhov Announces UFC 334 Fight With Jefferson Nascimento

It won’t sate fan demands for a title fight announcement, but this week UFC lightweight contender Nazim Sadykhov revealed that he’ll be facing Jefferson Nascimento in the first bout announced for UFC 334.

A contract winner on the 2022 edition of Dana White’s Contender Series, Sadykhov was submitted in his professional MMA debut in 2018 but rebounded with six-fight win streak to set up a DWCS matchup with Ahmad Hassanzada that he won via third round knockout.

Sadykhov eventually extended his winning run to nine fights, as the Syndicate MMA product stopped Evan Elder in his UFC debut in 2023 before he also submitted Terrance McKinney later that year.

Nazim Sadykhov (red gloves) looks on before fighting Viacheslav Borshchev (blue gloves) during UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

“Black Wolf” fought to a draw with Viacheslav Borshchev to close out 2023 before missing all of 2024, but last year he returned in full force to score back-to-back finishes of Nikolas Motta and Ismael Bonfim.

Nazim Sadykhov (red gloves) fights Viacheslav Borshchev (blue gloves) during UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

A step up in competition against Fares Ziam at UFC 323 saw Sadykhov suffer his first UFC loss, and he’s currently on the first two-fight skid of his career after Matheus Camilo also knocked him out in the first round of their matchup in June.

Jefferson Nascimento Returns at UFC 334 After First Career Loss

Sadykhov will try to get back into the win column under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden when he meets Nascimento, who will be looking for his first Octagon victory at UFC 334.

Nascimento won the LFA interim lightweight belt by stopping the formerly-undefeated Gabriel Costa in 2023 and successfully defended it in 2025 against Baysangur Makaev before being booked for a title unification bout last May.

A fourth-round stoppage of Gian Maurente extended Nascimento’s professional record to 13-0 and crowned him as the undisputed LFA lightweight champion, which earned him a call up to the UFC just a month later.

Competing on the same UFC Baku card where Sadykov came up short against Camilo,  Nascimento took on Tahir Adullayev and suffered his first career loss when he was stopped with ground and pound with just over 30 seconds remaining in the fight.

With the first matchup for UFC 334 now confirmed, anticipation regarding what title fight (or fights) the UFC might be targeting for the event will undoubtedly begin to rise among combat sports fans.