With no more football (at least until the last weekend of March with the UFL) to watch, UFC action is here to satisfy your needs for a hard-hitting scrap, including UFC Vegas 102 this Saturday night from the Apex facility. MMA’s top promotion commemorates the President’s Day weekend inside the United States with a card from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, NV.
Action from UFC Vegas 102 kicks off with the prelims at 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT Saturday afternoon. Stateside, the fights can be viewed over ESPN+ and/or Disney+.
Main card action caps the evening at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT on the subscription-based streaming platform. All told, if there are no cancellations, postponements, or adjustments to the bout order ahead of the weekend, the final version of the show features 12 fights on the schedule.
UFC Vegas 102 Main Event: Jared Cannonier vs. Gregory Rodrigues
Highlighting the night in Enterprise is a bout at middleweight pitting No. 7 contender Jared Cannonier (17-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) against Gregory Rodrigues (16-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC). This fight is a five-round contest at five minutes per round to close out the proceedings on Saturday.
Jared Cannonier comes into UFC Vegas 102 having posted a record of 2-3 in his last five fights. He’s fallen on hard times of late, having dropped his last two contests in succession. Back in August inside the very same UFC Apex, Cannonier dropped a unanimous decision after five rounds in the main event of UFC Vegas 96 against Caio Borralho (17-1, 1 NC MMA, 7-0 UFC).
“The Killa Gorilla” has scored knockout victories in three different weight classes throughout his career in the promotion, so will another knockout be delivered in this weekend’s main event? Only time will tell.
He can do it ALL! 😮💨
Jared Cannonier has a finish in each of the 3 BIGGEST weight classes! Catch him in the #UFCVegas102 main event this weekend!
[ LIVE on ESPN+ | 7pmET ] pic.twitter.com/49P9GBLBaj
— UFC (@ufc) February 13, 2025
Across the way, Gregory Rodrigues is going in the opposite direction ahead of Saturday’s fight. He’s posted a record of 4-1 in his last five fights in MMA dating back to October of 2021. Currently, he’s on a two-fight winning streak.
Last time out, he bested Christian Leroy Duncan (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in UFC 304 last July. This is a critical fight in the career trajectory for Gregory Rodrigues.
He doesn’t have a number next to his name in the top-15 at 185 up to this point. A victory over the 7th-ranked Cannonier on Saturday night in UFC Vegas 102’s main event could spell a ranking for Gregory Rodrigues as soon as this coming Monday.
UFC Vegas 102 Co-Main Event: Calvin Kattar vs. Youssef Zalal
Immediately beforehand, action takes place in the featherweight division. No. 10 contender Calvin Kattar (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) and unranked Youssef Zalal (16-5-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) in the UFC Vegas 102 co-main event. Kattar will be making the walk this Saturday night with a record of 1-4 in his past five contests.
He’s hit a rough patch recently, however. At the present time, he’s dropped three fights in a row dating back to June of 2022. Nearly a year ago, he suffered a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Aljamain Sterling (24-5 MMA, 16-5 UFC) during the landmark UFC 300 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In order to find the last time Kattar had a sustained winning streak in the sport, you’d have to travel back to the period between March of 2010 and January of 2018, when he got his hand raised in victory 10 times. With Kattar currently ranked 10th at 145, the UFC Vegas 102 co-main attraction is going to be a most important fight for him.
A win on Saturday could mean that he’s a few victories away from entering the title picture, while a defeat will make five losses in a row. How have these facts affected Kattar’s training strategy for this contest?
Meanwhile, Youssef Zalal comes into the Apex with a perfect 5-0 record across his last five MMA fights. Across all disciplines, he’s on a nine-fight unbeaten streak (8-0-1.)
During UFC Edmonton last November, he finished Jack Shore (17-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) with a second-round submission (rear-naked choke) in just under a minute. The fight would be Shore’s final appearance in the sport after 20 contests, as he’d retire from MMA a month later.
Zalal has been on a tear over the past few years. Can he go 9-0-1 in a 10-fight stretch across all combative disciplines?
UFC Vegas 102: Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Dylan Budka
Earlier in the main card of UFC Vegas 102, you’ll see a fight at middleweight pairing Edmen Shahbazyan (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) against Dylan Budka (7-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC.) Shahbazyan comes in having posted a record of 2-3 over the course of his last five bouts inside the Octagon.
He’ll look to get back into the win column this time around after dropping a second-round submission (arm-triangle choke) last August during UFC Vegas 96 versus Gerald Meerschaert (37-18 MMA, 12-10 UFC) at the UFC Apex. This is a man who rattled off 11 consecutive victories to begin his professional career.
A win on Saturday night could signal the start of another sustained run of success.
In the other corner, Dylan Budka has gone 2-3 during his last five contests but is coming into the card on a two-fight skid. A graduate of Contender Series’ 2023 season, he’s still searching for his first victory under the UFC promotional banner going into 2025.
Right after Labor Day in September, he left the cage on the losing end of a unanimous decision against Andre Petroski (12-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) at the Apex facility. While it’s still early days for Budka in his UFC career, a defeat here will make it three straight since joining the promotion. Will he finally get his hand raised?
Final Thoughts
Which fight or fights on the UFC Vegas 102 main card are you looking forward to? Regardless of who you’re rooting for, this is sure to be an exciting night of competitive violence.