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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Atlanta
Laying Out The Lineup For The UFC’s Return To State Farm Arena In Atlanta On Saturday
By E. Spencer Kyte, on x @spencerkyte
It’s been six years since the UFC last touched down in Atlanta, but that most recent visit produced a special night, and while the stakes aren’t the same this weekend, the audience at State Farm Arena and those watching at home are still going to be treated to some tremendous action inside the Octagon.
The last time the UFC ventured to the Peach State was in April 2019 for UFC 236, which featured Dustin Poirier’s interim lightweight title win over Max Holloway and Israel Adesanya’s interim middleweight title win over Kelvin Gastelum. It’s fitting that the promotion is returning to Atlanta now, as Poirier and Holloway are set to run it back next month in Poirier’s swan song, while the epic clash between Adesanya and Gastelum will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing later this month.
Although there are no titles on the line this weekend, there is still plenty at stake and much to learn about several of the combatants set to make the walk on Saturday night.
Here’s a detailed look at the matchups slate to hit the Octagon this weekend in “The A.”
Main Event: Kamaru Usman vs Joaquin Buckley
This month’s entry in the collection of critical welterweight matchups that have been taking place as of late features former champion Kamaru Usman returning to action and the division in a clash with surging contender Joaquin Buckley.
Saturday will be Usman’s first appearance since UFC 294 in October 2023, when he ventured up to middleweight on short notice and dropped a majority decision to impending title challenger Khamzat Chimaev. After winning each of his first 15 appearances inside the Octagon, the 38-year-old former titleholder makes the walk this weekend on a three-fight slide, eager to get himself moving in the right direction again while showing he’s still a threat in the weight class he once ruled.
Buckley has used the last two years to transform from a solid, but undersized, middleweight to a bona fide contender in the 170-pound weight class, amassing six wins in as many starts. Last year alone, “New Mansa” posted victories over Vicente Luque, Nursulton Ruziboev, Stephen Thompson, and Colby Covington, earning finishes in three of those four victories.
This was the matchup Buckley lobbied for following his win over Covington in the final UFC bout of 2024 and one that makes perfect sense from a divisional standpoint. Usman needs to prove that he can still hang with the emerging set currently storming their way to the top of the division, while Buckley could use another high-profile victory in order to hold his place in the growing queue of contenders.
We’re going to know a great deal more about where each of these men fit within the hierarchy once the dust settles in this one, and have an even greater sense of how things within the division could potentially line up in the back half of the year, as well.
Additional Main Card Matchups
Rose Namajunas vs Miranda Maverick
Denver residents and occasional training partners Rose Namajunas and Miranda Maverick will trade the gym for State Farm Arena as they share the Octagon in this pivotal flyweight pairing on Saturday night.
After logging a single appearance in both 2022 and 2023, Namajunas was ultra-active by her standards in 2024, making three appearances. She earned quality wins over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez in March and July, respectively, but faltered in November, starting quick but fading en route to losing a decision to Erin Blanchfield.
Maverick also made three starts last year, posting decision wins over Andrea Lee, Dione Barbosa, and Jamey-Lyn Horth, pushing her winning streak to four in the process. The 27-year-old has been viewed as a future contender since arriving in the UFC and her track record inside the Octagon shows that she’s on that trajectory, with this weekend’s matchup representing her greatest opportunity to date to take a major step forward.
Edmen Shahbazyan vs Andre Petroski
Edmen Shahbazyan and Andre Petroski share the cage in this clash of middleweights angling to take a big step forward in 2025.
The 27-year-old Shahbazyan came out of the gates quickly to start his UFC tenure, winning his first four bouts in less than a year to earn a place in the rankings. Since then, he’s struggled to find consistency, alternating wins and losses over his last five while showing glimpses of both the positives and negatives that have been present throughout his time competing inside the Octagon.
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Petroski has cobbled together an 8-2 record through his first 10 UFC starts, entering Saturday’s contest having won three straight. The Marquez MMA representative is a powerful grappler who has no qualms about grinding out wins when necessary, but has also showed an ability to hunt for - and secure - submissions in the past.
Both men earned wins on February 15 — Shahbazyan stopping Dylan Budka, Petroski besting Rodolfo Vieira by decision — and hit Atlanta looking to build off those efforts. The middleweight ranks have been growing deeper in recent years and the competition for a place in the Top 15 is the toughest it has been in some time, making this one increasingly important should either of these two have designs on seeing a number next to their name in the not too distant future.
Cody Garbrandt vs Raoni Barcelos
Former bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt returns to action for the first time in over a year, facing off with staunch veteran presence Raoni Barcelos on this weekend’s main card.
“No Love” competes for the first time since suffering a second-round submission loss to ex-flyweight titleholder Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300 last April. The 33-year-old Las Vegas-based veteran is just 3-6 since his virtuosic title-winning effort against Dominick Cruz, as injuries and inconsistency have kept him from finding his way back into the mix.
Barcelos opened the year by bouncing Payton Talbott from the ranks of the unbeaten, reminding everyone why he’s considered a vital part of the bantamweight ecosystem in the process. After suffering consecutive losses to Umar Nurmagomedov and Kyler Phillips in 2023, the 38-year-old Brazilian has earned back-to-back wins, elevating his record to 8-4 inside the Octagon and 19-5 overall in the process.
This profiles as a pivotal fight for Garbrandt, who can expedite a move back up the divisional ladder with a strong showing against a stalwart like Barcelos, but one where his current ceiling could also be lowered if things don’t go his way. It will be interesting to see what he can bring to the table after more than a year away, and how the divisional mainstay Barcelos follows up his strong outing from earlier this year.
Mansur Abdul-Malik vs Cody Brundage
Mansur Abdul-Malik looks to continue his strong start to his UFC tenure while Cody Brundage looks to hand the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate his first professional defeat in this intriguing middleweight fixture.
A member of last year’s DWCS graduating class, Abdul-Malik has already logged a pair of wins inside the Octagon. After dispatching Dusko Todorovic late last year, the raw, but promising, prospect did the same to Nick Klein in February, moving to 8-0 in the process.
Brundage has had a strange run through his first 11 UFC appearances, posting a 5-5 record with one no contest, often vacillating between quality efforts and performances that leave you wanting more. Last time out, the Factory X representative stopped former training partner Julian Marquez in the first round, moving to 3-1 with one no contest over his last five.
Can Abdul-Malik keep rolling and affirm his standing as an elite prospect in the 185-pound weight class or will Brundage be able to lean on his experience advantage to press pause on his rise?
Alonzo Menifield vs Oumar Sy
Action-oriented light heavyweights open the main card as Alonzo Menifield shares the Octagon with undefeated French prospect Oumar Sy.
One of nine remaining members of the graduating class from the second season of Dana White’s Contender Series still on the roster, Menifield enters Saturday’s contest off a split decision win over Julius Walker in February and stationed at No. 15 in the divisional rankings. The powerful 37-year-old has more UFC appearances than his opponent has professional fights, and will look to leverage that experience advantage and comfort in the cage into a second consecutive win this weekend in Atlanta.
Perfect in 11 starts to begin his pro career, Sy has earned wins in each of his first two UFC appearances. After mauling Tuco Tokkos in his debut, the 29-year-old Paris native went the distance with Da Woon Jung last time out, earning a clean sweep of the scorecards while collecting valuable time inside the Octagon.
The two were originally scheduled to compete towards the end of March, but Sy was forced out of the contest, resulting in Menifield hustling into action against Walker in Seattle. It’s an outstanding pairing that should tell us a great deal about where each man stands, and is likely to be an explosive start to Saturday’s main card action.
Preliminary Card Pairings
Paul Craig vs Rodolfo Bellato
A month after they were initially slated to face off, Paul Craig and Rodolfo Bellato now meet this weekend in the final preliminary card bout of the day.
This is Craig’s return to the light heavyweight division following a four-fight stint at middleweight that started with a victory and went downhill from there. Bellato, who was forced out of the May 17 matchup on the day of the fight, is 12-2-1 for his career, having battled Australian Jimmy Crute to a draw in his most recent appearance.
Michael Chiesa vs Court McGee
Michael Chiesa and Court McGee go head-to-head in a battle of veteran welterweights and former Ultimate Fighter winners.
Chiesa posted a pair of wins in 2024, earning consecutive rear-naked choke finishes over Tony Ferguson and Max Griffin, elevating his record to 18-7 overall and putting a frustrating three-fight slide well behind him. McGee halted his own three-fight slide last time out, securing his first finish in more than a decade at home in Utah at UFC 307 in a bout with Tim Means.
Cody Durden vs Jose Ochoa
It’s veteran versus prospect in the flyweight division in this one, as Cody Durden steps in with Jose Ochoa.
Durden reaches a baker’s dozen in terms of UFC starts this weekend, looking to rebound after dropping a decision to Joshua Van last December at UFC 310. Ochoa debuted a month prior to that, giving a good account of himself in a losing effort opposite unbeaten British prospect Lone’er Kavanagh.
Phil Rowe vs Ange Loosa
It’s a battle of Florida-based welterweights as Phil Rowe and Ange Loosa face off on Saturday’s prelims.
Rowe, who trains at Fusion Xcel in Orlando, competes for the first time in a year, looking to snap a two-fight slide and get back to the form that produced three straight stoppage wins over Orion Cosce, Jason Witt, and Niko Price. Representing Kill Cliff FC in Deerfield Beach, Loosa looks to get things moving in the right direction this weekend after landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in a bout with Gabriel Bonfim last July in Denver.
Malcolm Wellmaker vs Kris Moutinho
Georgia native Malcolm Wellmaker gets to compete in his home state, making the 150-mile trek from Augusta to Atlanta as he welcomes Kris Moutinho back to the UFC.
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Another member of last year’s DWCS graduating class, Wellmaker impressed in his promotional debut six weeks ago, sparking Cameron Saaiman with a counter hook two minutes into the opening round. Moutinho has gone 5-0 with five finishes since his first two-fight stint with the promotion and looks to play spoiler this weekend in his return to the Octagon.
Vanessa Demopoulos vs Jamey-Lyn Horth
Vanessa Demopoulos and Jamey-Lyn Horth clash in this strawweight engagement on Saturday’s prelims.
Demopoulos, who steps in for Tereza Bleda, enters having dropped consecutive contests to Brazilians Jaqueline Amorim and Talita Alencar to fall to 11-7 overall. Squamish, British Columbia’s Horth claimed a split decision win over Ivana Petrovic in Edmonton last November, then hustled back into action a month later, landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in a bout with Maverick on the final fight card of the year in Tampa.
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