UFC Vegas 124 Features Exciting Prelims to Kick off November

UFC Vegas 124 fight week is here. This Saturday night, a shorter schedule of events for November begins for the No. 1 MMA promotion in the world. Counting both the November and December itineraries for the UFC, there are only five cards left from the company in 2026 before the UFC recesses for the festive season following UFC 335.

Live coverage of UFC Vegas 124 begins with the prelims at 5 pm ET/ 2 pm PT on Paramount Plus. Main card action follows at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT on the streaming service. 

If there are no further adjustments needed to be made to the bout order for UFC Vegas 124 between now and the weekend, the final version of Saturday night's card will feature a slate of 14 fights from the MMA leader. Earlier Wednesday, published reports indicated that Austin Bashi is now booked to fight Carlos Calderon this weekend. 

UFC Vegas 124 Featured Prelim: Keiichiro Nakamura vs. Ollie Schmid: Nakamura in Search of Ninth Straight Win

At the top of the undercard, the featherweights take to the fabled Octagon. Keiichiro Nakamura (8-1 MMA, UFC promotional debut,) the 2026 Road to UFC Featherweight Tournament Champion, meets Ollie Schmid (4-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC.) All fights mentioned herein are an advertised three rounds at five minutes per round.

Nakamura will be making the walk having posted a record of 5-0 in his last five fights. He's currently on an eight-fight winning streak dating back to his second professional fight in MMA.

Last time out, he scored a third-round knockout by way of a knee strike against Sebastian Szalay (10-2 MMA, 2-1 Road to UFC) in the Road to UFC tournament final on UFC 325 to secure a promotional contract. It's not every weekend that a debuting fighter makes his first walk to the Octagon on the featured prelim, but this is the opportunity that Nakamura has been afforded. 

Can he cash in? Watch on Saturday night to find out.

Ollie Schmid Wants to Get Back in Win Column

Across the way, Ollie Schmid enters the weekend with a 3-2 mark in his last five trips to the cage. On May 2, he went down in defeat at the hands of Marwan Rahiki (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) by way of first-round knockout in his UFC debut.

Prior to the May 2 bout, Schmid had been on a three-fight winning streak. While Nakamura has been on a hot streak of late, Schmid is a fighter smarting from a knockout loss earlier this year. 

Only time will tell if Ollie Schmid gets his hand raised in victory.

UFC Vegas 124 Co-Featued Prelim: Gabriel Lorenco vs. Thomas Petersen: Lorenco Seeks to Impress in Debut

Immediately beforehand, the heavyweight division serves as the focus of the UFC Vegas 124 co-featured undercard bout. 2026 Dana White's Contender Series graduate Gabriel Lorenco (8-1 MMA, UFC promotional debut) squares off with Thomas Petersen (11-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC.)

Lorenco is 5-0 in his past five bouts and has won eight contests in a row. On the night of Sept. 1, he secured his UFC contract on DWCS 90 via first-round knockout against Charlie Cleveland (6-2 MMA,) an LFA alumnus,

Thomas Petersen wasn't even slated to be Gabriel Lorenco's opponent for UFC Vegas 124. Initially, Lorenco was to have versed Alvin Hines (7-2 MMA) on Saturday night before Hines had to bow out of the contest due to issues stemming from vertigo.

Lorenco has already proved impressive under the Tuesday night spotlight of Contender Series and now, it's up to him to put on a show under the UFC banner.

Thomas Petersen Comes In on Two Weeks' Notice

Meanwhile, Thomas Petersen comes into UFC Vegas 124 sporting a record of 2-3 in his past five contests. In late July, he lost by first-round submission due to calf slicer to Valter Walker (16-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC.) 

Petersen was confirmed to by Alvin Hines' replacement in late October. With a short lead time ahead of this fight, how will he fare on short notice?

UFC Vegas 124: No. 11 Contender Karine Silva vs. No. 14 Contender Gabriella Fernandes: Silva Hopeful to End Losing Streak

Also on the UFC Vegas 124 undercard is one of only two all-ranked fights on the entire show. It'll be a women's flyweight contest matching No. 11 contender Karine Silva (19-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC) against No. 14 contender Gabriella Fernandes (11-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC.) 

The former owns a record of 2-3 in her last five fights. She's on a two-fight skid going into the weekend, however. 

On April 18 in UFC Winnipeg, she dropped a unanimous decision to Jasmine Jasudavicius (16-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) after 15 minutes of action. Another loss here would make it three setbacks in a row, but her opponent is also coming in off of a loss.

Gabriella Fernandes Eager to Rebound from Knockout

In the other corner, Gabriella Fernandes has a mark of 3-2 in the last five bouts. On March 28 inside Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena, she was on the receiving end of a first-round knockout from Casey O'Neill (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC.)

This setback brought an end to Fernandes' three-fight winning streak. While a fighter is dangerous when he or she is on a hot streak, they can be just as vicious when they're in the first fight after a winning streak is snapped.

Which version of Gabriella Fernandes shows up on Saturday in UFC Vegas 124? 

Rest of the Prelims

Aside from the previously-mentioned Austin Bashi vs. Carlos Calderon fight, UFC Vegas 124's undercard is rounded out by these contests:

• a featherweight fight matching Jose Delano (17-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) against Murtzali Magomedov (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC,)
• a middleweight encounter between Mantas Kondratavicius (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Andre Petroski (13-3 MMA, 8-5 UFC,)
• a welterweight bout pairing Seok Hyeon Ko (13-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) with Wellington Turman (18-8 MMA, 3-6 UFC,)
• and a welterweight contest versing Jonny Parsons (9-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Jose Souza (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC.)