Eastern Promise
In the wake of a record-breaking pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden last weekend, the UFC packs it’s bags and hits the road this week. All roads lead to Macao, China and while the undercard for this event has been built around the finals of the Road To UFC tournament, the main card also contains a handful of fascinating contests which may have title implications in a variety of divisions going forward.
Battle Of Bantamweight Contenders
Two dethroned UFC champions collide in the main event, eager to climb the ladder towards a title shot at 135lbs. Former flyweight king Deiveson Figueiredo will be looking to continue his unbeaten start to life in his new weight class when he takes on Petr Yan. After losing his title to long-time rival Brandon Moreno in January of 2023, “Deus da Guerra” made the decision to change weight classes, and having rattled off consecutive victories over Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera he now finds himself sitting fifth in the bantamweight rankings, just two places behind Yan.
Yan returned after a 12-month absence earlier this year and picked up an impressive win over Team Alpha Male powerhouse Yadong Song at UFC 299. Prior to that, “No Mercy” had fallen on hard times. After losing consecutive split decisions to Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley in 2022, he was comfortably beaten by Merab Dvalishvili in March 2023, leaving many fans wondering if the Russian was finished as a top-level fighter. His impressive showing against Song looks to have quelled some of that talk and should the 31-year-old emerge victorious against Figueiredo this weekend, he may well find himself close to another opportunity at winning the belt he lost by way of disqualification in his first meeting with Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 back in 2021.
Stylistically the fight promises to be very exciting. Yan possesses some of the finest close-quarters boxing in the UFC today. He loves to work in the pocket and is one of the few fighters in the promotion with the confidence to throw combinations without treating them as a set-up for a takedown. His body shots and uppercuts can be particularly brutal and he will be looking to get right in front of his Brazilian opponent and let him know how hard a real 135lb champion can hit.
Figueiredo also carries vicious power in his hands, although he prefers to fight at a slightly longer range than Yan. He stands with a much wider base and likes to switch between stances while keeping his head off the centre line, making him a very elusive target. When he strikes, he likes to get in and out of the pocket as quickly as possible, and the battle for control of the distance in this fight could be a fascinating one.
Best Of The Rest
In the co-main event, former strawweight title challenger Xiaonan Yan returns after her failed attempt at winning Weili Zhang’s belt at UFC 300. “Nine” takes on Tabatha Ricci who has already picked up victories over Angela Hill and Tecia Pennington this year.
Kenan Song looks to follow up on his win at UFC 305 in March and finally add some consistency in what has been an up-and-down tenure in the UFC’s welterweight division. “The Assassin” takes on the 40-year-old Muslim Salikhov who returned to winning ways against Santiago Ponzinibbio in July.
Unbeaten Chinese prospect Cong Wang makes her second UFC appearance following an eye-catching knockout win in her debut in March. She takes on the Brazilian Gabriella Fernandes who picked up her first win inside the Octagon in June following a difficult start to life as a UFC fighter.
Ozzy Diaz makes his UFC debut in the light-heavyweight division when he takes on Mingyang Zhang, and there’s another huge fight at 205lbs as City Kickboxing prospect Carlos Ulberg faces his toughest test to date when he squares off against former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir.
Full Fight Card
Main Card:
Petr Yan vs Deiveson Figueiredo (135lbs)
Xiaonan Yan vs Tabatha Ricci (115lbs)
Kenan Song vs Muslim Salikhov (170lbs)
Cong Wang vs Gabriella Fernandes (125lbs)
Volkan Oezdemir vs Carlos Ulberg (205lbs)
Ozzy Diaz vs Mingyang Zhang (205lbs)
Preliminary card:
Su Young You vs Balgyn Jenisuly (135lbs, Road to UFC finals)
Kiru Sahota vs Dong Hoon Choi (125lbs, Road to UFC finals)
Xiaocan Feng vs Ming Shi (115lbs, Road to UFC finals)
Carlos Hernandez vs Nyamjargal Tumendemberel (125lbs)
Lone’er Kavanagh vs Jose Ochoa (125lbs)
Long Xiao vs Quang Le (135lbs)
Maheshate Hayisaer vs Nikolas Motta (155lbs)
