UFC Vegas 103 is right around the corner. Saturday night, the month known for alliterative madness on the basketball court begins with the first UFC Fight Night of March. The third month of the year is going to be a busy one for MMA’s top promotion.
There’s one UFC card on the schedule every Saturday night this upcoming month. It starts at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, NV this weekend. Live coverage of UFC Vegas 103 will kick off late in the afternoon with the undercard at 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT on ESPN+.
The Disney-owned subscription-based platform will follow it up with the main card at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT Saturday evening. Disney Plus simulcasts the card in its entirety, as well. While the main card is highlighted by a contest between Manel Kape and Asu Almabaev, if last week’s prelims were any indication, you can’t sleep on the undercard.
UFC Vegas 103 Featured Prelim: Austen Lane vs. Mario Pinto
All told, barring any cancellations between now and the weekend, the final version of UFC Vegas 103 will feature 12 MMA bouts. At the top of the bill for the undercard is a heavyweight tilt matching Austen Lane (13-5, 1 NC MMA, 1-2, 1 NC UFC) and Mario Pinto (9-0 MMA, UFC promotional debut.)
Lane comes into UFC Vegas 103 this weekend having posted a record of 2-2 with one no-contest in his last five bouts under the promotional banner. A 2022 graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series, he’s hoping to build off of an October victory over Robelis Despaigne (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), who is currently fighting in Karate Combat and will appear on Friday’s Karate Combat 53 versus Roggers Souza in Denver.
Lane got out of a rough patch last fall, but will he be able to keep up his winning ways this weekend? His opponent is a tough customer at the shop.
Across the way, Mario Pinto will be making his first walk to the famed Octagon this Saturday evening having yet to lose thus far in his professional MMA career. He scored his UFC promotional contract last October with a first-round knockout of Lucas Camacho (6-1 MMA) during the penultimate episode of the eighth season of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Pinto’s only nine fights into his career and he already possesses an impressive resume. Prior to getting cast on Contender Series last season, he was the Levels Fight League Heavyweight Champion, having defended the strap twice over ahead of his appearance in the Tuesday night MMA promotion.
Is his first impression going to be a successful one? Tune in and find out.
UFC Vegas 103 Co-Featured Prelim: Ricardo Ramos vs. Chepe Mariscal
Immediately beforehand, featherweights take to the cage for the UFC Vegas 103 co-featured prelim pitting Ricardo Ramos (17-6 MMA, 8-5 UFC) against Chepe Mariscal (17-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC). Ramos enters the co-featured undercard bout having posted a record of 2-3 in his last five fights.
Last time out, he saw a two-fight losing streak snapped with a split decision win against Josh Culibao (11-4-1 MMA, 3-4-1 UFC) during UFC 305 from Perth in August of last year. Ramos has had an up-and-down tenure in the promotion, so will Saturday bring an upswing?
Meanwhile, Chepe Mariscal comes into Nevada with a mark of 5-0 in his last five contests as part of an ongoing seven-fight winning streak. Mariscal, an alumnus of CFFC, Cage Warriors and the late Combate Global, hasn’t had to experience the bitter taste of defeat since September of 2020, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Sean Soriano during CFFC 85 on UFC Fight Pass.
This is a young man who is on an unbelievable hot streak. If Chepe Mariscal scores another victory here in UFC Vegas 103 this coming weekend, he’ll be on the main card to stay in short order.
UFC Vegas 103: Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. John Castaneda
Also on the UFC Vegas 103 prelims is a bantamweight contest pairing Douglas Silva de Andrade (29-6, 1 NC MMA, 7-6 UFC) with John Castaneda (21-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC.) Silva de Andrade makes the walk sporting a 3-2 record over the past five bouts.
During UFC Vegas 93 last June, he was on the losing end of a unanimous decision vs. Miles Johns (15-3, 1 NC MMA, 6-3, 1 NC UFC) in the co-main event of the evening. This is his 14th UFC appearance on Saturday night.
He’s had close to nine months to dissect what went wrong against Johns at the very same UFC Apex late last spring. What kind of changes has he been able to implement into his gameplan for this bout?
In the other corner, John Castaneda will set foot in the Apex this weekend with the same mark in the last five fights as his opponent, 3-2. Much like Silva de Andrade, Castaneda also fought last June.
On June 8, he made the walk in Louisville and suffered a unanimous decision at the hands of Daniel Marcos (17-0, 1 NC MMA, 4-0, 1 NC UFC) from the KFC Yum! Center. By the time Castaneda enters the cage this weekend, 266 days will have passed between fights. How much ring rust does he have going into this one and how has his gameplan been altered?
Final Thoughts
Which fight or fights are you looking forward to on UFC Vegas 103? Let us know in the comments.