UFC Vegas 117's Must-See Main Card Saturday Night!

UFC Vegas 117 fight week continues. After a stopover in New Jersey for UFC 328 last weekend, the UFC is back inside the friendly confines of the Meta Apex for the final event from the promotion ahead of the Memorial Day holiday next week inside the United States of America.

Live coverage of UFC Vegas 117 begins Saturday afternoon at 5 pm ET/ 2 pm PT on Paramount Plus with the prelims. Main card fights follow at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT on the Skydance-owned streamer.

If there are no further adjustments to be made to the schedule ahead of Saturday's card, the show will feature a baker's dozen, 13 fights. Of those 13 fights, only two feature ranked contestants versing one another.

UFC Vegas 117 Main Event: No. 7 Contender Arnold Allen vs. No. 12 Contender Melquizael Costa: Looking At "Almighty"

One of the two all-ranked matchups takes place in the evening's main event. Featherweights take to the fabled Octagon when No. 7 contender Arnold Allen (20-4 MMA, 11-3 UFC) collides with No. 12 contender Melquizael Costa (26-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC.) This is a five-round fight at five minutes per round to wrap up the evening's activities.

Allen will be making his second wallk to the Octagon so far in 2026 having posted a record of 2-3 in his last five fights. On Jan. 24 during UFC 324, he dropped a unanimous decision at the hands of Jean Silva (17-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) after 15 minutes of action.

It's been close to four months' time between fights for Allen, who's lost three out of his last four contests going into UFC Vegas 117. Scoring a win against Costa may be something that's easier said than done, however.

Melquizael Costa on Hot Streak Going into UFC Vegas 117 Saturday Night

Melquizael Costa will be making the walk this weekend on the strength of a 5-0 record in his past five trips to the cage. Currently, he's on a six-fight winning streak.

More impressively, in that ongoing streak, half of those victories were recorded during the opening round of the fight. Like Arnold Allen, Melquizael Costa will also be making his second trip to the cage this year on Saturday evening.

Back on Feb. 21, he stopped Dan Ige (19-11 MMA, 11-10 UFC) with a spinning back kick followed by ground and pound with four seconds remaining on the first-round clock. 

Costa is currently sitting at No. 12 in the rankings at 145 ahead of UFC Vegas 117 this weekend. If he scores another impressive victory on Saturday night, he may find himself inside the top 10 at featherweight by this time next week.

UFC Vegas 117 Co-Main Event: Doo Ho Choi vs. Daniel Santos: Choi Makes Long-Awaited Return to Competition

Immediately prior to the main event, the action stays at 145 lbs for the co-main event of the evening. Doo Ho Choi (16-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) squares off against Daniel Santos (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC.) This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round.

Doo Ho Choi comes into this fight, his first in 18 months, with a mark of 2-2-1 in his last five fights. He's on a three-bout unbeaten streak ahead of UFC Vegas 117 on Saturday night.

In December of 2024, Choi scored a third-round knockout over Nate Landwehr (18-8 MMA, 5-6 UFC) during UFC 310 at T-Mobile Arena. The co-main event of the evening is a rebooking of a postponed fight from UFC Perth on Sept. 27, with the fight being scrubbed ahead of its original date due to Choi suffering a knee injury.

With a clean bill of health now afforded to him, can Choi return to the winners' circle? Only time will tell..

Santos Hunting for Fifth Straight Win in Co-Main Event Saturday Night

Meanwhile, Daniel Santos comes in with a 4-1 record over his past five outings. He's won four bouts in succession ahead of this card.

Back on Oct. 4, he finished Joo Sang Yoo (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) with a second-round knockout during UFC 320 from T-Mobile Arena. When a fighter is on a hot streak, as Daniel Santos is right now, he can be dangerous once he sets foot into the cage.

A fifth successive victory will do wonders for him. Tune into see how he fares.

UFC Vegas 117: Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Juan Diaz: Wellmaker Seeks Return to Win Column

Also on the UFC Vegas 117 main card, the bantamweights do battle when Malcolm Wellmaker (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) fights Juan Diaz (15-1-1 MMA, UFC promotional debut.) Wellmaker makes his fourth trip to the cage on Saturday with a 4-1 mark in his past five outings.

Most recently, he tasted defeat for the first time in his professional career, dropping a unanimous decision at the hands of Ethyn Ewing (10-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) on Nov. 15 during UFC 322 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. With Wellmaker coming into a fight off of a loss for the first time as a professional, there's no doubt he'll be hungry to get back to winning ways.

He'd be best served to not underestimate his adversary on Saturday night, however.

Diaz Hoping to Impress in Freshman UFC Bout

In the other corner, Juan Diaz, the former Lux Fight League Bantamweight Champion, has gone 5-0 over his five most-recent contests. He secured his UFC contract last October on closing night of Contender Series' ninth season.

That fall Tuesday night, he finished Kwon Won Il (14-6 MMA,) who was attempting to cross over to the UFC from  ONE Championship, with a second-round knockout by way of spinning back fist with two seconds left in the period. This young man is a proven champion on the regional scene, so how will his UFC journey begin?

Rest of the Card

UFC Vegas 117's main card is rounded out by the following bouts:

• A contracted catchweight (215 lbs) between Modestas Bukauskas (19-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) and Christian Edwards (8-4 MMA, UFC promotional debut,)
• a bantamweight showcase versing Timmy Cuamba (10-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) against Bernardo Sopaj (12-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC,)
• and a welterweight fight pairing Nikolay Veretennikov (14-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC) with Khaos Williams (15-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC.)