UFC Vegas 102 is upon us. A week removed from the UFC returning to pay-per-view with UFC 312, MMA’s No. 1 promotion heads stateside for the rest of February. Part two of the schedule for this month begins with UFC Vegas 102 at the Apex this Saturday night before heading to Climate Pledge Arena for UFC Seattle next week.
As far as this week’s schedule is concerned, the UFC Apex plays host to its second UFC Fight Night of 2025. Five weeks removed from being the setting of UFC Vegas 101, Dana White’s promotion heads back to its Nevada homebase for another weekend of action on the night after Valentine’s Day.
Live coverage of Saturday’s card is wall-to-wall on ESPN+ inside the United States. The excitement begins at 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT with the undercard before moving onto main card action at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT. All told, barring any 11th-hour adjustments, the show will feature a slate of 13 fights, highlighted by the main event of the evening between Jared Cannonier (17-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) and Gregory Rodrigues (16-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in the middleweight ranks.
UFC Vegas 102 Featured Prelim: Angela Hill vs. Ketlen Souza
Our focus on this day is the undercard. At the top of the bill during the UFC Vegas 102 prelims is a contest at strawweight. 31-fight veteran and No. 13 contender Angela Hill (17-14 MMA, 12-14 UFC) makes her 27th walk to the famed Octagon when she meets Ketlen Souza (15-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC,) who will be making her 20th career appearance in MMA.
This fight at strawweight is a battle between two fighters at a crossroads. Angela Hill enters the UFC Vegas 102 featured undercard bout having posted a mark of 3-2 in her last five fights. Back in August of 2024, at the selfsame UFC Apex facility, she saw her two-fight winning streak snapped by way of unanimous decision at the hands of Tabitha Ricci (11-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC.)
Hill turned 40 years of age just last month, so will she be able to put together one last run at strawweight before she retires from MMA? Tune in and find out.
In the other corner, Ketlen Souza comes into the weekend having gone 4-1 in her last five fights. Souza, a former strawweight champion in Invicta FC, is currently on a two-fight winning streak heading into UFC Vegas 102.
On Sept. 14 inside the Vegas Sphere, she picked up her first win via submission under the UFC promotional banner, scoring a first-round submission due to rear-naked choke versus Yazmin Jauregui (11-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) during the Noche UFC undercard. Comparatively, UFC Vegas 102 on Saturday night marks Ketlen Souza’s fourth promotional appearance, and she’s just 29 years old.
Can youth conquer over experience this weekend?
UFC Vegas 102 Co-Featured Prelim: Jared Gordon vs. Marshrabjon Ruzibaev
Immediately prior to the headlining undercard bout, the co-featured prelim sees lightweights make the walk to the Octagon when Jared Gordon (20-7, 1 NC MMA, 8-6, 1 NC UFC) squares off against Marshrabjon Ruzibaev (20-4-1 MMA, UFC promotional debut.) Gordon enters the fight having posted a record of 2-2 with one no-contest in his last five appearances.
At the moment, he’s reeling from a split decision defeat to Nasrat Haqparast (17-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) during the June 22, 2024 UFC Saudi Arabia card on ABC. Jared Gordon has had close to eight months away from the cage to think about what went wrong and correct his mistakes from his last fight.
Only time will tell, however, if he’s able to turn it around in the co-featured prelim.
Across the way, Marshrabjon Ruizibaev enters this fight, his UFC debut, having gone 5-0 in his last five fights as part of an ongoing seven-fight winning streak. He hasn’t fought in more than a year, however.
Back in October of 2023, Ruzibaev scored a first-round knockout with ground and pound shots in just 38 seconds’ time over Nurzhigit Karaev (8-11-1 MMA) during Open Fighting Championship 38. He’ll be making his UFC debut this Saturday night as a replacement for Kaue Fernandes (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who is unable to make the walk after withdrawing upon encountering visa problems.
As recently as a few weeks ago, Ruizibaev wasn’t even scheduled to be on this card. How will he do in his short-notice debut?
UFC Vegas 102: Rafael Estevam vs. Jesus Aguilar
Also on the main card, you’ll see a flyweight affair matching Rafael Estevam (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) with Jesus Aguilar (11-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC.) Estevam comes into the card having yet to lose thus far in his professional MMA career.
After seeing his UFC debut get postponed twice over, he finally got his hand raised in the promotional banner in November of 2023 by way of unanimous decision versus Charles Johnson to open up the card. He’s been away from the cage for more than a year.
How much ring rust does he have?
Meanwhile, Jesus Aguilar has gone 4-1 in his last five contests. Presently, he’s won three in a row. Back in August, he locked in a first-round submission due to guillotine choke against Stewart Nicoll (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) during UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.
Aguilar has been on quite the roll over the last decade. Since 2015, he’s only lost two fights. Can he keep up his great form over the weekend?
Final Thoughts
Which prelim or prelims are you looking forward to during UFC Vegas 102? Let us know in the comments.