This weekend the UFC returns to Jacksonville, Florida with the event being headlined by a Featherweight showdown between two top contenders of the division.
Main Event
The main event will see former Interim title challenger Josh Emmett take on rising hot prospect Ilia Topuria. Emmett came up short in his last bout against Yair Rodriguez in a bid to claim the Interim Featherweight title and will be looking to bounce himself back into contention quickly with a win over the highly thought of Topuria. Topuria himself will have a similar mindset knowing that a win over a former title challenger such as Emmett will have a massive impact on shooting him up the rankings and further propelling him towards the upper echelons of the division. One thing is for certain, the result of this fight will have some serious consequences on the division as a whole when deciding the future title picture.
Co – Main Event
The co main event for the event sees Amanda Ribas take on Maycee Barber. Ribas had an excellent start to life in the UFC picking up an impressive winning streak fighting at 115 lbs. Ever since making the move to 125 lbs life has been a little bit rockier and she has been trading wins and losses during her time at the division. Coming off of a win in her last fight and currently sitting at number 9 in the rankings she will be hoping to finally build some momentum at her new weight class and make a charge for the top 5. Her opponent Maycee Barber has been enjoying an impressive win streak of her own, unbeaten in her last 4 with her most recent loss coming against current champ Alexa Grasso, Barber will fancy her chances significantly coming into this fight. Currently ranked number 11, a win would be guaranteed to place her inside the top 10 while simultaneously granting her a 5 fight winning streak. That may be enough to challenge for a top 5 position almost immediately after.
Main Card
The Heavyweights are back out as well this Saturday with former NFL defensive end Austen Lane making his debut with the promotion. Coming in at 6ft 6 with 12 victories in 15 fights. 11 wins coming by way of KO, Lane is certainly a physical specimen and will be looking to put on a very impressive performance against Justin Tafa. Going 3-3 in the organisation Tafa has proven himself to be a solid Heavyweight in the UFC more than capable of holding his own with the majority of newcomers and lower ranked fighters in the division and will be an excellent test to gauge the level that Lane is currently at.
The other featherweight bout on the main card sees David Onama go head to head with Gabriel Santos. Both of these are young prospects in the division with potentially very bright futures ahead for them. Onama is 1-1 with the organisation so far and will be looking to establish some momentum by picking up a win on Saturday. His opponent Gabriel Santos is 0-1 losing his debut fight against highly rated English Lerone Murphy in what was a thrilling encounter which saw Santos on the wrong side of a split decision.
Brendan Allen takes on Bruno Silva in the opening bout of the main card. Allen has impressed going on a 4 fight win streak and currently sitting at number 13 in the Middleweight rankings. Silva will see this as an excellent opportunity to start collecting some noticeable scalps at Middleweight and break into that top 15 ranking.
Don’t Miss
Noticeable fights on the prelims also include Neil Magny vs Phil Rowe and Randy Brown vs Wellington Turman. Magny and Brown have proven themselves as established welterweights for years now, particularly Magny who has recently fought the likes of Gilbert Burns and Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Main card
- Ilia Topuria def. Josh Emmett via Uanimous Decision (50-44), (50-42), (49-45) – Featherweight
- Maycee Barber def. Amanda Ribas via TKO R2 (3:42)- Women’s Flyweight
- Austin Lane vs. Justin Tafa ruled no contest due to accidental eyepoke R1 (0:29) – Heavyweight
- David Onama def. Gabriel Santos via KO R2 (4:13) – Featherweight
- Brendan Allen def. Bruno Silva via Submission R1, (4:35) – Middleweight
Prelims
- Neil Magny def. Philip Rowe via Split Decision (29-28) Magny, (29-28) Rowe, – Welterweight
- Randy Brown def. Wellington Turman via Unanimous Decision (29-28) – Welterweight
- Mateusz Rebecki def. Loik Radzhabov via TKO, R2 (2:36) – Lightweight
- Tabathi Ricci def. Gillian Robertson via Unanimous Decision (29-28) x2 (30-27) – Strawweight
- Joshua Van def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via Split Decision (29-28) x2 Van, (29-28) Zhumagulov – Flyweight
- Chepe Mariscal def. Trevor Peek via Unanimous Decision (30-27) x3 – Lightweight
- Jack Jenkins def. Jamall Emmers via Split Decision (29 -28) x2 Jenkins, (30-27) Emmers – Featherweight
- Sedriques Dumas def. Cody Brundage via Unanimous Decision (30-27) x2 (29-28) – Middleweight
Superlek Excited For Muay Thai Return At ONE Friday Fights 22
