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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs Murphy
Detailing All The Action Set To Hit The Octagon This Weekend In Las Vegas
By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte
Everyone loves a good trip, a nice getaway, but there is also something comforting, satisfying about returning home to familiar surroundings and settling back in, which is precisely what the UFC does this weekend.
Following international adventures in London and Mexico City, the action inside the Octagon this weekend once again takes place at the UFC APEX, with a slate featuring a number of intriguing matchups and capped by a crucial featherweight main event between Josh Emmett and Lerone Murphy.
It’s a home cooking weekend, and here’s a look at what’s on the menu.
Main Event: Josh Emmett vs Lerone Murphy
Top 10 featherweights look to make their case for a spot in the title conversation as Josh Emmett and Lerone Murphy face off in Saturday night’s main event.
A fixture in the rankings for the last several years, this marks Emmett’s first appearance since his thunderous knockout win over Bryce Mitchell at UFC 296 at the end of 2023. He opened that year challenging for the interim title and then pushing now former champ Ilia Topuria to the scorecards, and remains one of the most dangerous power hitters in the division.
Lerone Murphy of England punches Edson Barboza of Brazil in a featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on May 18, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Lerone Murphy of England punches Edson Barboza of Brazil in a featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on May 18, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
More than five years after making his first walk to the Octagon, Murphy makes the trek on Saturday still brandishing an unbeaten record, having gone 7-0-1 in his first eight UFC appearances to advance his record to 15-0-1. Last year, “The Miracle” posted back-to-back decision wins over Edson Barboza and Dan Ige, further establishing himself as an ascending name to watch in the 145-pound weight class.
The landscape of the featherweight division is shifting, with a new champion set to be crowned next weekend. While the winner of this one may not move straight into a championship opportunity, a strong performance from either man should definitely put them in the conversation, and set up a key fight in the second half of the year.
Additional Main Card Matchups
Pat Sabatini vs Joanderson Brito
Featherweights occupy the co-main event slot this weekend, as well, with Pat Sabatini taking on Joanderson Brito.
After opening his UFC career with four straight wins, Sabatini has alternated results over his last four outings, entering Saturday’s contest off a first-round submission win over Jonathan Pearce last October. The Philadelphia native is a standout grappler and dogged wrestler, who will need to keep his chin tucked and his head down in order to collect a second consecutive victory.
Brito lost his promotional debut before rattling off five straight finishes following his contract-winning effort on Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). Last time out, however, the aggressive Brazilian landed on the wrong side of the scorecards in a competitive bout with France’s William Gomis.
Can Sabatini build off his dominant showing last time out or will Brito get things moving in the right direction again to begin his 2025 campaign?
Cortavious Romious vs ChangHo Lee
Action shifts to the bantamweight division in this one, as DWCS grad Cortavious Romious faces off with Road to UFC tournament winner ChangHo Lee.
Fighting out of Pura Vida BJJ/MMA in Milwaukee, Romious competed on back-to-back seasons of the annual talent-search series, losing his first appearance to Ramon Taveras before out-hustling Canadian Michael Imperato last year to claim a contract. In his November promotional debut, the 31-year-old dropped a unanimous decision to Gaston Bolanos, starting well before fading in the back half of the contest.
Lee earned dominant stoppage wins over Rana Singh and Daermisi Zhawupasi to advance to the bantamweight tournament finals on the second season of Road to UFC, then had to wait 10 months before finally facing off with Xiao Long. The South Korean won the bout by unanimous decision, extended his winning streak to four, and looks to continue rolling here.
These are the type of early-career fights that are critical to determining whether an athlete is capable of maintaining a place on the UFC roster long term. While not a massive fight in terms of divisional significance, how it plays out will tell us a great deal about both Romious and Lee once the smoke clears.
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Martin Buday
It’s a clash of Contender Series graduates in the heavyweight division here, as Season 2 alum Kennedy Nzechukwu makes his third start in the big boy ranks opposite Season 5 grad Martin Buday.
Nzechukwu has been a fascinating addition to the heavyweight division through his first two appearances, having registered first-round stoppage wins over Chris Barnett and Lukasz Brzeski. The towering Nigerian always flashed upside during his light heavyweight days, and seems to have finally found how to make his considerable weapons work best for him consistently inside the Octagon.
Buday also started his UFC heavyweight tenure with wins over Barnett and Brzeski, adding victories over Jake Collier and Josh Parisian before being handed his first loss by Shamil Gaziev at the end of 2023. He rebounded last year with a split decision win over Andrei Arlovski and will now look to stem the advances of his fellow DWCS alum this weekend.
Heavyweight is one of those weight classes where three or four wins can put you in the thick of the chase, so this main card clash carries plenty of significance.
Brad Tavares vs Gerald Meerschaert
Middleweights with a combined 85 professional bouts under their belts share the Octagon here, as Brad Tavares faces off with Gerald Meerschaert.
The longest tenured fighter in the division, Tavares begins his 16th year on the UFC roster looking to snap a two-fight skid. Now 37 years old, the longtime litmus test in the 185-pound ranks is just 3-6 over his last nine fights, and has gone just 1-4 since registering consecutive wins over Antonio Carlos Junior and Omari Akhmedov in 2021.
Meerschaert is an action-oriented fighter that uses durability, guile, and a great submission game to serve as a tricky assignment for everyone he’s matched up against, despite being 55 fights deep into his career. He had a two-fight winning streak snapped by Reinier de Ridder last time out, and will surely be looking to add to his record for the most finishes in middleweight division history this weekend.
Torrez Finney vs Robert Valentin
The main card opener also comes in the middleweight division, as three-time DWCS competitor Torrez Finney makes his promotional debut opposite recent TUF finalist Robert Valentin.
Finney garnered a stoppage win, but no contract in Season 7 before registering a unanimous decision victory over Cam Rowston in his first appearance of Season 8, again leaving empty handed. He returned in Week 8, pounded out a first-round finish, and finally secured his spot on the UFC roster, advancing his record to 10-0 in the process.
Valentin was the breakout performer on Season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter, advancing to the finals on the strength of stoppage wins over Giannis Bachar and Paddy McCorry while also taking on a coaching role with Team Grasso. He was submitted by Ryan Loder in the finals last August, and looks to rebound and collect his first UFC victory here.
This is an excellent initial matchup for Finney, who is undersized for the division at five-foot-eight, but has yet to encounter any real roadblocks to success in the 185-pound ranks. Valentin is a dangerous live wire with a considerable size advantage, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this one plays out.
Preliminary Card Pairings
Ode’ Osbourne vs Luis Gurule
Saturday’s prelims close in the flyweight division, as DWCS Season 3 graduate Ode’ Osbourne welcomes Class of ’24 alum Luis Gurule to the Octagon for the first time.
Osbourne enters on a three-fight losing streak, having most recently lost to Ronaldo Rodríguez at UFC 306 last September, which dropped him to 4-6 overall under the UFC banner. Gurule scored an impressive, short-notice decision win over Nick Piccininni to punch his ticket to the roster, moving to 10-0 in the process.
Davey Grant vs Daniel Santos
All-action bantamweights collide here as Britain’s Davey Grant shares the cage with Brazilian Daniel “Willycat” Santos.
A staple in the division since his time on Season 19 of The Ultimate Fighter, Grant enters off a sturdy, veteran win against newcomer Ramon Taveras last time out. After dropping his promotional debut to Julio Arce all the way back at UFC 273, Santos has collected back-to-back victories but competes here for the first time since June 2023.
Diana Belbita vs Dione Barbosa
Flyweights Diana Belbita and Dione Barbosa clash here in a matchup where each looks to kick off their 2025 schedules by getting back into the win column.
Belbita enters on a two-fight skid, having suffered consecutive losses to Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Molly McCann, and posting a 2-5 record through her first seven UFC appearances. Barbosa won her promotional debut last May, but came out on the wrong side of the results in a short-notice pairing with Miranda Maverick back in July.
Rhys McKee vs Daniel Frunza
It’s an all-European battle in the welterweight division in this one as Rhys McKee faces off with promotional newcomer Daniel Frunza of Romania on Saturday’s prelims.
A two-time champ on the U.K. regional scene, McKee hasn’t been able to translate that success to the highest level as of yet, entering this weekend’s contest having gone 0-4 over two stints in the UFC. Romania’s Frunza claimed his place on the roster with a second-round stoppage win last season on Dana White’s Contender Series, pushing his winning streak to five and his record to 9-2 with the victory.
Loma Lookboonmee vs Istela Nunes
Loma Lookboonmee looks to continue her winning ways as she returns to action opposite Brazilian Istela Nunes this weekend.
The first Thai fighter to compete in the UFC, Lookboonmee enters having won three straight and five of her last six, establishing herself as an ascending name to track in the 115-pound weight class. Nunes has dropped each of her first three UFC assignments, and competes here for the first time since suffering a gruesome elbow injury against Viktoriia Dudakova in July 2023.
Victor Henry vs Pedro Falcao
Experienced bantamweights Victor Henry and Pedro Falcao lock horns early on Saturday’s fight card at the UFC APEX.
The 37-year-old Henry is 3-2 with one no contest through his first six appearances inside the Octagon, having most recently been submitted by Charles Jourdain in Edmonton last November. Falcao was called into action on short notice last April, landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in a bout with Victor Hugo, which snapped his five-fight winning streak.
Vanessa Demopoulos vs Talita Alencar
Talented grapplers Vanessa Demopoulos and Talita Alencar open this weekend’s fight card in what should be a competitive and spirited battle in the 115-pound weight class.
Demopoulos looks to get things moving in a positive direction again after having her two-fight winning streak halted by Jaqueline Amorim last time out. Alencar has split her first two appearances inside the Octagon since graduating from Season 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series, edging out Rayanne Dos Santos by split decision before dropping her rematch with Stephanie Luciano last August.
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