The UFC stays stationed on the Apex for a second consecutive weekend of Struggle Night time motion in Las Vegas earlier than the group heads again out abroad for UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi later this month.
Anthony Hernandez and Michel Pereira are in the principle occasion highlight Saturday with each middleweights driving prolonged profitable streaks.
Hernandez, 30, has received 5 in a row and is at the moment the No. 13-ranked contender within the 185-pound division. The American has completed 4 of his 5 opponents on his present streak, most lately submitting the touted Roman Kopylov at UFC 298 in February.
Pereira, 31, sits at No. 14 within the middleweight rankings after returning to the division and shifting up from welterweight one yr in the past. He prolonged his profitable streak to eight in a row again in Might with a 54-second submission win over Ihor Potieria. Actually, Pereira’s three most up-to-date fights have lasted a mixed 3:01 and all three wins earned him a Efficiency of the Night time bonus.
That is the ninth UFC occasion of 2024 headlined by a middleweight contest, which speaks to how fascinating the highest finish of that weight class has been this yr.
Whoever wins Saturday’s most important occasion, particularly if it’s a clear stoppage, will place themselves to face an enormous identify within the high 10 in some unspecified time in the future within the first half of subsequent yr.
UNDERCARD OVERVIEW
No straightforward fights for Katona: Canadian bantamweight Brad Katona is in a well-known spot, slotted in a featured preliminary bout in a troublesome matchup in opposition to a fighter with whom mainstream followers aren’t doubtless acquainted. Katona faces 15-0 Brazilian Jean Matsumoto. The UFC thinks extremely of the 25-year-old coming off a submission win over Dan Argueta in April, in any other case, they might not pair him with a fighter of Katona’s calibre or expertise.
Katona is the UFC’s first two-time winner of The Final Fighter match and one in every of his three professional losses was a call to present 135-pound champion Merab Dvalishvili. The 32-year-old is 2-1 throughout his present UFC stint and has received eight of his previous 9 total but is the betting underdog heading into this matchup.
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Dynamic co-main: The penultimate bout Saturday is a wonderful fashion matchup between Rob Font and Kyler Phillips. Though Font has misplaced 4 of his previous 5 outings relationship again to 2021, all these losses had been selections to top-level expertise at 135 kilos — Deiveson Figueiredo, Cory Sandhagen, Marlon Vera and Jose Aldo — and he’s nonetheless the No. 10-ranked contender within the stacked division. Phillips might be trying to take Font’s spot within the high 10. The 29-year-old is 6-1 within the UFC, driving a three-fight profitable streak that features a March victory over Pedro Munhoz.
Almabayev will get hardest check to this point: Asu Almabayev could make it 3-0 in 2024 if he can open the principle card with a win over No. 7-ranked flyweight contender Matheus Nicolau. Almabayev is unranked at 125 kilos regardless of a 20-2 professional document and a 16-fighting profitable streak that has lasted seven years. Almabayev has crushed Ode’ Osbourne, C.J. Vergara and most lately Jose Johnson within the UFC, none of whom are on Nicolau’s degree. Nonetheless, Nicolau has been knocked out in two consecutive outings following a 12-1 run he had been on. A win over Nicolau would elevate Almabayev to being a related participant at 125 kilos.
Projected bout order for UFC Struggle Night time: Hernandez vs. Pereira as of Thursday …
MAIN CARD
— Anthony Hernandez vs. Michel Pereira
— Rob Font vs. Kyler Phillips
— Charles Johnson vs. Su Mudaerji
— Darren Elkins vs. Daniel Pineda
— Matheus Nicolau vs. Asu Almabayev                        Â
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Brad Katona vs. Jean Matsumoto
— Joselyne Edwards vs. Tamires Vidal
— Jessica Penne vs. Elise Reed
— Melissa Martinez vs. Alice Ardelean
— Austen Lane vs. Robelis Despaigne