UFC Vegas 118 Kicks off June with Thrilling Main Card!

UFC Vegas 119 fight week continues. Before the No. 1 MMA promotion on Earth heads to The White House lawn for next weekend's UFC Freedom 250, Dana White and company have one important piece of business to take care of before boarding a plane bound for the nation's capital city.

UFC Vegas 119 takes place at the promotion's homebase inside Meta Apex in Enterprise, NV. Live coverage  of the event can be seen wall-to-wall via Paramount Plus inside the United States. Paramount Plus will become the home for UFC flagship events in Canada effective in 2027, as was announced earlier Thursday morning.

 

Prelims kick off the night at 5 pm ET/ 2 pm PT on Paramount Plus before the main card caps the activities at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT. If no adjustments are to be made to the schedule, the final version of UFC Vegas 119 on Saturday night, 12 fights will be held inside the fabled Octagon.

UFC Vegas 119 Main Event: No. 5 Contender Belal Muhammad vs. No. 11 Contender Gabriel Bonfim: Muhammad Hunting for 25th Career Win

At the top of the bill on Saturday night at the Apex facility, the welterweights will be making the walk for the main event. No. 5 contender Belal Muhammad (24-5, 1 NC MMA, 15-5, 1 NC UFC,) a former UFC Welterweight Champion, faces off against No. 11 contender Gabriel Bonfim (19-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC.) 

This main event is an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close out the show. Belal Muhammad enters the main event of the evening at UFC Vegas 119 this weekend with a record of 3-2 in his last five MMA fights.

At the moment, he's dropped two in a row, including a unanimous decision loss in Qatar on Nov. 22 of last year against Ian Machado Garry (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC.) He turned his attention to freestyle wrestling in December, being bested by way of technical fall against David Carr in RAF 04 in Indianapolis.

A year ago at this time, Muhammad was less than a month removed from dropping the UFC Welterweight Championship to Jack Della Maddalena in Montreal during UFC 315. With Muhammad sitting at No. 5 in the rankings, a win here, his 25th as a pro, will put him in shouting distance for another shot at the title.

Gabriel Bonfim In Search of Resume-Building Win

Meanwhile, Gabriel Bonfim enters Saturday evening's headliner having posted a record of 4-1 in his last five outings. Currently, he's on a four-fight winning streak going into UFC Vegas 119 over the weekend. 

On Nov. 8, he trekked to the Apex to battle Randy Brown (20-8 MMA, 14-8 UFC) for a rebooking of a postponed fight from October. During the rescheduled fight, he scored a second-round knockout by way of a knee delivered in the clinch.

In so doing, Bonfim netted a $50,000 (USD) bonus for the Performance of the Night. A victory in the main event of UFC Vegas 119 would not only serve as the 20th in his professional MMA career, it would also do wonders for his resume as he continues his climb up the mountain at 170.

UFC Vegas 119 Co-Main Event: No. 4 Contender Brendan Allen vs. Edmen Shahbazyan: Sizing Up Allen

Immediately prior to the headlining contest of UFC Vegas 119, the co-headliner sees action taking place in the middleweight division. No. 4 contender Brendan Allen (26-7 MMA, 14-4 UFC) meets Edmen Shahbazyan (16-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC.) This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round.

Allen enters this weekend's clash on the strength of a 3-2 record over his past five appearances. Coming into UFC Vegas 119 on Saturday night, he's won two fights in succession.

In late October, he secured a fourth-round TKO after his opponent, Reinier de Ridder (21-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) resigned from their bout in UFC Vancouver. This is Allen's first walk to the Octagon in 2026. 

Will he stay in the win column? Only time will tell.

Edmen Shahbazyan Looking for Fourth Win in a Row

Across the way, Edmen Shahbazyan touches down in Nevada with a mark of 4-1 in his last five efforts. Coming into the weekend, he's won three bouts consecutively.

Last October, he finished Andre Muniz (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) with a first-round knockout by way of strikes from the top mount. Shahbazyan was already supposed to have fought earlier this spring.

He had been scheduled to fight Jun Yong Park over the Easter holiday weekend in April before the latter had to bow out due to injury. After the delay, will Shahbazyan secure his fourth consecutive victory?

UFC Vegas 119: No. 14 Contender Fares Ziam vs. Tom Nolan: Ziam on Hot Streak

Also on the UFC Vegas 119 main card, lightweights go to battle when No. 14 contender Fares Ziam (18-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) collides with Tom Nolan (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC.) Ziam has gone 5-0 in his last five fights.

All told, he's currently on a six-fight winning streak dating back to the summer of 2022. Back on Dec. 6, he stopped Nazim Sadykhov (11-2-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) with one second remaining on the second-round clock due to elbows and follow-up strikes. 

Fares Ziam is on a tear right now. His opponent wants nothing more than for the streak to end on Saturday.

Tom Nolan Hungry for Number Next to His Name

In the other corner, Tom Nolan will enter the Octagon this weekend sporting a 4-1 record in his last five contests. He's won four bouts consecutively ahead of UFC Vegas 119, including a first-round submission by way of rear-naked choke versus Charlie Campbell (9-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in Perth last September.

This is Nolan's sixth outing in the UFC and arguably his highest-profile fight. During UFC Vegas 119 media day on Wednesday, he mentioned that he'd like to be ranked next week if all goes well on Saturday.

"I think I've got all the tools to beat him, a lot of development in my time off," he said. "I won't reveal too much, but I'm very, very excited for this one. no pressure, that's just excitement. I'm 26 years old, going to be ranked."

Rest of the Card

Two other bouts round out UFC Vegas 119's main card, a bantamweight showdown between Bryce Mitchell (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) and Santiago Luna (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and a light heavyweight contest matching Iwo Baraniewski (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) against Junior Tafa (7-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC.)