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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Lemos vs Jandiroba
Setting The Stage For Saturday’s Return To The UFC APEX
By E. Spencer Kyte, on X: @SpencerKyte
The UFC returns home to Las Vegas for a one-week pit stop before heading back on the road to Manchester, bringing a solid 12-fight card headlined by a pivotal matchup at the top of the strawweight division to the UFC APEX this weekend.
Here’s a detailed look at what’s on tap.
Main Event: Amanda Lemos vs Virna Jandiroba
Brazilian standouts Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba face off in a crucial pairing near the top of the strawweight division in Saturday’s main event.
Lemos rebounded from her championship opportunity at UFC 292 last summer in Boston with a dominant effort opposite Mackenzie Dern earlier this year at UFC 298, winning the first two rounds on all three scorecards before holding off the hard-changing grappling standout in the third. Currently stationed at No. 3 in the rankings, the 37-year-old aims to continue holding down her position in the hierarchy and putting together the wins needed to get herself a second crack at the strawweight title.
Entering on a three-fight winning streak, Jandiroba steps into the championship mix for the first time in her UFC career. The former Invicta FC champ has registered convincing wins over Angela Hill, Marina Rodriguez, and Loopy Godinez over her last three, showcasing her suffocating brand of grappling with flashes of improved striking sprinkled in along the way.
With champion Zhang Weili coming off another successful title defense in April at UFC 300 and her next challenger not yet confirmed, this weekend's finale offers an opportunity for the Brazilian contenders to make their respective cases for consideration. A dominant effort on either side may not punch their ticket to a title shot, but it will bring whoeveremerges victorious one step closer to reaching that goal.
Co-Main Event: Brad Tavares vs Junyong Park
Middleweight division fixtures Brad Tavares and JunYong Park cross paths in this weekend’s co-main event.
The 36-year-old Tavares is in Year 14 on the UFC roster, making him one of the longest continually tenured fighters in the promotion. After snapping a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Chris Weidman last summer in Boston, the Hawaiian was stopped in February by Gregory Rodrigues, dropping him to just 1-3 over his last four fights.
Park picked up submission wins over Denis Tiuliulin and Albert Duraev to begin his 2023 campaign and push his overall winning streak to four, but closed out the year on the wrong side of a split decision verdict in a bout with Andre Muniz. Now 7-3 inside the Octagon, Park has yet to lose consecutive bouts in his career, so it will be interesting to see if he can maintain that trend here.
Steve Garcia vs SeungWoo Choi
All-action featherweights Steve Garcia and SeungWoo Choi meet in the middle of the main card for what should be a highly volatile affair on Saturday night.
Garcia arrives in the best form of his UFC career, having garnered consecutive stoppage wins over Chase Hooper, Shayilan Nuerdanbieke, and Melquizael Costa in his last three outings. The 32-year-old fought a tough slate on the regional circuit coming up, and after struggling to find his footing out of the gates, Garcia has clearly settled into life as a member of the UFC’s 145-pound ranks.
Never one to shy away from a firefight, Choi snapped a three-fight slide with a strong showing opposite Jarno Errens last summer in Singapore. He's faced a steady diet of quality competition throughout his UFC run, which includes wins over Youssef Zalal and Julian Erosa, as well as hard-fought battles with Movsar Evloev, Alex Caceres, and Joshua Culibao.
This fight has serious Fight of the Night potential and should be a non-stop thrill ride for as long as it lasts this weekend.
Kurt Holobaugh vs Kaynan Kruschewsky
TUF 31 lightweight winner Kurt Holobaugh takes on recent Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) graduate Kaynan Kruschewsky in another of this weekend’s collection of competitive, guaranteed action entanglements.
The 37-year-old Holobaugh earned a second chance to compete on the biggest stage in the sport with a second-round submission win over Austin Hubbard last summer at UFC 292. In his return to action earlier this year, the Louisiana native was stuck with his shoulders pinned to the canvas for the majority of his bout with Trey Ogden, unable to generate any offense against the Marathon MMA leader.
Kruschewsky punched his ticket to the roster last summer with a first-round technical submission win over LAW MMA product Dylan Mantello, which extended his winning streak. He was pressed into action on short notice less than two months later in Sao Paulo, losing to fellow Brazilian Elves Brener, and will look to rebound here with the benefit of a full camp.
Cody Durden vs Bruno Silva
Flyweight Cody Durden welcomes Bruno Silva back to the Octagon for the first time since March of 2023.
Durden carried a two-fight winning streak into last year and bolted on two more victories before suffering a first-round submission loss to Tagir Ulanbekov at UFC 296 in December. Fighting for the first time in more than a year and just the second time since May 2021, Silva looks to extend his three-fight winning streak while also taking aim at a fourth consecutive bonus, as well.
DooHo Choi vs Bill Algeo
The main card action kicks off in the featherweight division as “The Korean Superboy” Dooho Choi and Bill Algeo square off inside the Octagon.
Competing for the first time since battling Kyle Nelson to a draw early last year, the now 33-year-old Choi looks to snap a four-fight run without a victory. Injuries and a pause in his career to fulfill his mandatory military obligations have slowed the second half of his UFC career, but the UFC Hall of Fame inductee remains must-see TV whenever he steps into the fray thanks to his fan-friendly style and fight-ending power.
Ironically, Algeo’s last appearance also came against Nelson, as the Pennsylvania native fell to the streaking Canadian earlier this year in Atlantic City. The loss snapped a tidy two-fight winning streak for the 35-year-old, who looks to avoid the first two-fight skid of his 26-fight career this weekend.
Neither Choi nor Algeo has ever been shy about getting into a good old-fashioned punch-up and that shouldn’t change this weekend as they’ll look to light up the Octagon to open the main card.
Preliminary Card
JeongYeong Lee vs Hyder Amil
JeongYeong Lee and Hyder Amil face off in this matchup of featherweight strikers that earned their place on the roster through annual competitions.
The winner of the featherweight tournament on the first season of Road to UFC, Lee extended his winning streak to eight with a unanimous decision win over Blake Bilder in his official promotional debut in February. Amil is another member of the DWCS Class of ‘23, and he followed up his gutsy win over Emrah Sonmez with a second-round stoppage win over Fernie Garcia earlier this year.
Brian Kelleher vs Cody Gibson
Brian Kelleher and Cody Gibson go toe-to-toe in a clash of bantamweight veterans on Saturday evening at the UFC APEX.
“Boom” ended an 18-month absence last December at UFC 296, suffering a first-round knockout loss to Cody Garbrandt, while Gibson followed his TUF 31 finale defeat to Brad Katona with a unanimous decision loss to Miles Johns in March. Each of these competitors is surely chomping at the bit to right the ship, and that should make for an electric matchup between the two this weekend.
Miranda Maverick vs Dione Barbosa
Following on the heels of last weekend's critical flyweight pairings, Miranda Maverick and Dione Barbosa face off in this weekend’s offering in the ultra-competitive 125-pound weight class.
Maverick, who was initially scheduled to face Tracy Cortez, aims to collect a third straight victory, after earning a third-round submission win over Priscila Cachoeira and a unanimous decision victory over Andrea Lee in her last two outings. Barbosa followed her DWCS win last summer with a unanimous decision triumph over Ernesta Kareckiate in May, running her overall winning streak to four in the process.
Loik Radzhabov vs Trey Ogden
Looking to build off critical victories in their most recent outings, Loik Radzhabov and Trey Ogden cross paths in this lightweight preliminary card fixture.
After splitting his first two appearances under the UFC banner last year, the 33-year-old Radzhabov righted the ship in blistering fashion in early March, stopping Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady in the third round. Having fallen victim to a premature stoppage in a fight he was trending towards winning towards the end of last year, Ogden took a tactical approach in his clash with Holobaugh earlier this year, ensuring that he registered a victory and avoided a three-fight run without a positive result.
Luana Carolina vs Lucie Pudilova
Veterans Luana Carolina and Lucie Pudilová meet early in the evening in an intriguing bantamweight contest.
Carolina makes her third straight start in Las Vegas, having earned victories in each of her last two trips to “The Fight Capital of the World,” while Pudilova touches down having dropped back-to-back decisions following a dominant performance in her return to the promotion two summers ago at UFC 278. Carolina moves up a division after missing weight for her most recent outing, and it will be interesting to see how that factors into the outcome this weekend.
Mohammed Usman vs Thomas Petersen
Business gets underway in the heavyweight division, with recent TUF winner Mohammed Usman and Thomas Petersen locking horns in the opener.
After earning victories in each of his first two appearances following his TUF 30 triumph over Zac Pauga, Usman was handed his first UFC setback last time out by Mick Parkin. The 29-year-old Petersen impressed with his second-round submission win over TUF 30 alum Chandler Cole in order to secure his UFC contract, but landed on the wrong side of things in his debut against fellow DWCS graduate Jamal Pogues in his February Octagon debut.
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