UFC Vegas 119 Delivers Awesome Prelims to Start Summer

UFC Vegas 119 fight week is here. After the landmark UFC Freedom 250 on The White House grounds in Washington, DC a week ago Sunday, the UFC is back to its usual Saturday evening timeslot and its homebase in Nevada on the first official day of the summer season.

Live coverage of UFC Vegas 119 begins with the prelims at 5 pm ET/ 2 pm PT on Paramount Plus. Main card action caps the evening at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT. If there are no adjustments needed to be made to the schedule of events on UFC Vegas 119, the final version of Saturday's show will feature a slate of 12 fights inside the fabled Octagon.

For the second time this month, Meta Apex will play host to an edition of UFC Fight Night.

UFC Vegas 119 Featured Prelim: Andre Lima vs. Kevin Borjas: Examining Undefeated Lima

At the top of the bill for the undercard, the flyweights do battle when Andre Lima (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) fights Kevin Borjas (10-5 MMA, 1-4 UFC.)  All fights mentioned herein are an advertised maximum of three rounds at five minutes per round.

Lima enters UFC Vegas 119 on Saturday evening having yet to lose as a professional. The undefeated Lima made headlines in the spring of 2024 after being the victim of a bite to the arm from opponent Igor Severino at the then-UFC Apex. Severino was cut from the promotion after the fight.

As far as Lima's last outing is concerned, it took place on March 15 of last year, when he defeated Daniel Barez (17-8 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a third-round submission by way of rear-naked choke in UFC Vegas 104 at the Apex facility. 

Since then, he's seen three planned fights get scrubbed without a single punch thrown, including two April bookings against fellow undefeated fighter Dong Hun Choi (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC.) It's been over 15 months since Andre Lima entered the Octagon.

Two questions are raised here: How much ring rust has he had to shake off? Can he remain undefeated after Saturday night?

Borjas Looking to Stop Skid in UFC Vegas 119

Across the way, Kevin Borjas comes into this weekend's featured prelim having posted a record of 1-4 in his last five fights. He's dropped two contests in a row, including a Feb. 28 knockout against Imanol Rodriguez (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in the latter's UFC promotional debut.

Kevin Borjas is entering must-win territory in UFC Vegas 119 on Saturday evening. Another defeat will make three setbacks in succession and five since joining the UFC's active roster in November of 2023.

Saturday's featured prelim will be a critical 15 minutes (or less) of action. How will Kevin Borjas fare against an undefeated adversary?

UFC Vegas 119 Co-Featured Prelim: No. 13 Contender Bia Mesquita vs. Melissa Mullins: Undefeated Mesquita Looks to Keep Rolling

Immediately beforehand, the co-featured prelim of UFC Vegas 119 sees action taking place in the women's bantamweight ranks. No. 13 contender Bia Mesquita (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) collides with Melissa Mullins (7-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC.)

Mesquita still hasn't tasted defeat in her MMA career, finishing both of her previous UFC opponents. On March 14, she stopped Montse Rendon (7-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) with a rear-naked choke inside the second round of action.

Mesquita has cracked the top 15 at 135, so can she continue her ascent in the rankings? Tune in and find out Saturday.

Melissa Mullins Hoping to Score Victory After March Fight Postponed

Meanwhile, Melissa Mullins comes into the weekend on the strength of a 4-1 record in her last five MMA contests. She'll be looking to build off of a Nov. 9, 2024 victory over Klaudia Sygula (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) by way of ground and pound shots in the second round.

After, Mullins was set to return during March 21's UFC London against Luana Carolina, but the fight was postponed the day before the card at the official weigh-ins. Carolina had exceeded the bantamweight nontitle maximum by 8 lbs, while Mullins weighed-in at 136 without incident.

 "All my hard work wasted and the opportunity to fight on my home turf stolen from me!," Mullins posted to Instagram at the time. Expect Melissa Mullins to fight with frustration on Saturday night. Will she use the previous cancellation as motivation?

UFC Vegas 119: Allan Nascimento vs. Mitch Raposo: Nascimento Returns After Seven Months Away

Also on UFC Vegas 119's undercard, the flyweights make the walk to the cage for a contest between Allan Nascimento (22-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Mitch Raposo (10-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC.) This is a rebooking of a canceled fight from UFC Vancouver in April. 

The April 18 booking was scrapped after the latter became sick on the Thursday of fight week. Nascimento treks to Las Vegas having posted a mark of 4-1 in his last five fights.

He's gotten his hand raised in victory after four successive fights, including a second-round submission (anaconda choke) versus Cody Durden (18-10-1 MMA, 7-8-1 UFC) on Nov. 1. Nascimento hasn't fought in more than seven months after seeing the original booking of this fight get scrubbed two days before fight night.

Will the extra time be helpful or a hindrance?

Mitch Raposo with Clean Bill of Health Ahead of UFC Vegas 119

In the other corner, Mitch Raposo enters the rebooked tilt sporting a record of 3-2 in his past five outings. Last time out, he scored a unanimous decision win versus Azat Maksum (15-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) in October.

Raposo was ailing with a virus in the run-up to UFC Vancouver earlier in the spring. With his illness now in the rearview mirror, can he get his record to .500 in the UFC?

Only time will tell.

Rest of the Prelims

UFC Vegas 119's undercard is rounded out by these fights:

• A featherweight contest between Gaston Bolanos (8-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and Michael Aswell (11-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC,)
• a welterweight fight matching Leon Shahbazyan (12-4 MMA, UFC promotional debut) against Levan Chokheli (14-3, 1 NC MMA, UFC promotional debut,)
• a women's bantamweight showcase pairing No. 8 contender Karol Rosa (19-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) with No. 11 contender Luana Santos (10-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC,)
• and a featherweight contest versing Shane Collins (7-0 MMA, UFC promotional debut) and Otari Tanzilovi (10-1 MMA, UFC promotional debut.)