UFC Atlanta fight week rolls on. Saturday night, the famous UFC Octagon makes its last stop before the calendar turns over to summer next week inside Atlanta’s State Farm Arena for this week’s edition of UFC Fight Night.
Live coverage begins Saturday evening with the undercard at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT. Inside the United States, this event can be seen from beginning to end on ESPN+. In Canada, Sportsnet will carry the fights this upcoming weekend.
Barring any adjustments to this weekend’s schedule, the final version of Saturday night’s card will feature a full 13-fight slate. There are some interesting matchups to talk about on the UFC Atlanta main card over the weekend.
UFC Atlanta Main Event: No. 5 Contender Kamaru Usman vs. No. 7 Contender Joaquin Buckley
At the top of the bill on Saturday night, action takes place at welterweight. The main event of the evening is a crucial bout at 170 as it relates to the contendership for the class’ championship.
No. 5 contender Kamaru Usman (20-4 MMA,15-3 UFC) , the former UFC Welterweight Champion, meets up with No. 7 contender Joaquin Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC). This fight is an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close the show in UFC Atlanta.
Kamaru Usman will be making the walk to the cage this Saturday night having gone 2-3 in his last five fights. He’s dropped three fights in succession and hasn’t fought in over a year and a half.
Back in October of 2023, he sustained a majority decision defeat after three rounds of action to Khamzat Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in his first fight after losing the welterweight title by way of majority decision to Leon Edwards (22-5, 1 NC MMA, 14-4, 1 NC UFC.) Usman hasn’t entered the Octagon since that autumn night nearly two years ago due to issues with his knees.
How will he do in his first fight since UFC 294? Tune into the UFC Atlanta main event and find out.
Meanwhile, Joaquin Buckley comes into the fight this weekend sporting a record of 5-0 in his last five appearances as part of a six-fight winning streak. Last December, in the final UFC show of 2024 in Tampa, he scored a third-round TKO victory over Colby Covington (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) after the fight doctor waved off the contest due to the latter receiving a cut above his eye.
Buckley’s opponent’s knee issues came up during Wednesday’s media availability.
“With him not having [any] knees?,” Buckley asked the media at the UFC Atlanta press junket. “Just good footwork, good footwork, moving around Kamaru Usman. At the end of the day, there are a lot of fighters in my division who don’t know how to move. They just kind of stand right in front of each other.”
With Buckley having won six in a row, another victory in UFC Atlanta could mean he’s as little as one fight away from competing for the title.
UFC Atlanta Co-Main Event: No. 7 Contender Rose Namajunas vs. No. 11 Contender Miranda Maverick
Immediately beforehand, the co-main event of the evening happens at women’s flyweight. No. 7 contender and former UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas (13-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) collides with No. 11 contender Miranda Maverick (15-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC.) This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round.
“Thug” Rose Namajunas enters UFC Atlanta with a record of 2-3 in her last five contests. Most recently, she came away on the wrong end of a unanimous decision after 15 minutes of action to Erin Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in Edmonton.
To find the last time that Namajunas had a sustained winning streak, you’d need to go back to the time between July 11, 2020 and Nov. 6, 2021, during which time she reclaimed the 115-lb division’s strap. She briefly thought about ending her career as a fighter a few years ago upon losing the strawweight title for the second time before deciding to go to the 125-lb division.
Can Rose Namajunas return to the win column this weekend?
Across the way, Miranda Maverick, an alumnae of Invicta Fighting Championships and the winner of its September 2019 Phoenix Series 2 tournament at flyweight, has a 4-1 record in her last five fights.
Up to now, she’s won four fights in succession. On Dec. 14 in St. Petersburg, FL, she extended her winning streak (unanimous decision) after besting Jamey-Lyn Horth (7-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC.) This is a critical 15 minutes (or less) of action for Maverick, who will probably find herself inside the top-10 at 125 on Monday if she emerges victorious against the former strawweight champ.
UFC Atlanta: Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Andre Petroski
Also on the UFC Atlanta main card on Saturday night, you’ll see a middleweight tussle matching Edmen Shahbazyan (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) with Andre Petroski (13-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC.)
Shahbazyan heads to Atlanta for this weekend’s card with a mark of 3-2 over the course of his last five fights. Back on Feb. 15, he got his hand raised in victory after scoring a first-round knockout with a right hook to Dylan Budka (8-5 MMA, 0-3 UFC.)
The knockout made his wallet heavier after the fight that evening, with UFC CEO Dana White awarding him a $50,000 (USD) bonus for the Performance of the Night. Edmen Shahbazyan will reach a career milestone on Saturday in UFC Atlanta, with this fight being his 20th career appearance in the sport of MMA across all promotions.
If Shahbazyan turns in another highlight-reel finish, he could be in line for another bonus in fight number 20.
In the other corner, Andre Petroski comes in with a record of 3-2 in his own right over the last five fights. He’s won three bouts in a row ahead of UFC Atlanta and also fought on Feb. 15.
That night, he scored a unanimous decision victory against Rodolfo Vieira (10-3 MMA, 5-5 UFC). With both Shahbazyan and Petroski having fought on the same evening, this fight is one of those rare times where both contestants have equal footing between appearances. This should be a fun fight to watch.
Final Thoughts
Which main card fight or fights are you looking forward to on UFC Atlanta? Let us know in the comments.
