UFC Vegas 111 fight week continues. As we continue through the month of November, the number of shows left on this year’s schedule are now cut down to a precious few. Counting Saturday’s event, only five cards are left between now and the time the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.
The UFC Apex in Enterprise, NV is the setting for the card this weekend, which is the last card at the venue this month. After UFC Vegas 111 on Saturday, the promotion will not return to the Apex until the night of Dec. 13 for the last UFC event of the year and last on ESPN+ after a seven-year run as the promotion’s United States broadcast and streaming home.
As far as the action this week is concerned. live coverage of UFC Vegas 111 kicks off with the prelims at 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT with the prelims on ESPN+ before moving onto the main card at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT. After a few postponements on the card and subsequent shuffling to the bout order, if there are no subsequent adjustments, 12 fights will take place on Saturday.
Embed from Getty Images
UFC Vegas 111 Main Event: No. 14 Contender Gabriel Bonfim vs. Randy Brown
At the top of the bill on Saturday night, the welterweights do battle in the UFC Vegas 111 main event. No. 14 contender Gabriel Bonfim (18-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) collides with unranked Randy Brown (20-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC.) This main event is an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close out the show.
The UFC Vegas 111 main event is a rebooking of a postponed contest from the Oct. 11 UFC Fight Night in Rio de Janeiro. Bonfim and Brown saw their fight pushed back to this Saturday. Heading into this rebooked contest, Gabriel Bonfim is sporting a record of 4-1 in his last five fights.
He’s gotten his hand raised victoriously three times in a row. Most recently, he scored a split decision win over Stephen Thompson (17-9-1 MMA, 12-9-1 UFC) in July during UFC Nashville.
Gabriel Bonfim enters UFC Vegas 111 near the bottom of the rankings at 170, but he’s on a hot streak of late. Will he be able to continue his surge on Saturday?
Meanwhile, Randy Brown will be making the walk this weekend having gone 4-1 himself over the past five contests. Last time out, he knocked out Nicolas Dalby (23-6-1, 2 NC MMA, 7-5-1, 1 NC UFC) on April 26 in Kansas City, KS.
This week, he’ll fight with a purpose. Randy Brown is a native of Jamaica, where the devastation of Hurricane Melissa made landfall last week, and he’s been providing assistance to those affected by the storm’s aftermath through The Randy Brown Foundation, to which the UFC donated money in the wake of the hurricane.
A victory here would mean much more than a spot in the rankings. It’d give the people in his home country something to cheer about.
UFC Vegas 111 Co-Main Event: Matt Schnell vs. Joseph Morales
Immediately beforehand, the UFC Vegas 111 co-main attraction happens at flyweight when Matt Schnell (17-9, 1 NC MMA, 7-7, 1 NC UFC) meets Joseph Morales (13-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in the latter’s promotional return. This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round.
Schnell will be making the walk on Saturday night at the Apex with a mark of 2-3 in his five most-recent performances. He made a return to victory lane on April 26 over Jimmy Flick (17-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) in Kansas City at Sprint Center. The win snapped a three-fight winless streak dating back to 2022.
Now that he’s gotten back in the win column, can he stay there? Tune in and find out.
Across the way, Joseph Morales enters the weekend on the strength of a 4-1 record in his last five fights counting toward his professional MMA record. After netting victories in the quarterfinal and semifinal phases of this past season of The Ultimate Fighter, he secured a second UFC contract with a second-round submission by way of triangle choke versus Alibi Idiris (10-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in The Ultimate Fighter’s flyweight final during UFC 319 in August.
It isn’t too often that life gives somebody a second chance. With his August submission win in the TUF finale in Chicago, this is exactly what Joseph Morales has been afforded, beginning Saturday in UFC Vegas 111.
UFC Vegas 111: Muslim Salikhov vs. Uros Medic
Also on Saturday night’s main card, more welterweight action takes place inside the fabled Octagon when Muslim Salikhov (22-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) fights Uros Medic (11-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC,) a 2020 alumnus of Contender Series. Salikhov has a record of 3-2 in his past five bouts, winning three straight appearances.
This past summer, he scored his third straight win by way of first-round knockout (counter right hook) in just 42 seconds against Carlos Leal (22-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on ABC. In so doing, he pocketed his second $50,000 (USD) post-fight bonus for the Performance of the night.
Out of a possible 30 minutes of action in Salikhov’s last two fights, he’s only needed 4:31 to finish the action. Saturday’s fight will be Medic’s ninth under the promotional banner and he hasn’t needed a lot of time to complete his assignments of late. Will it be another short night at the office?
In the other corner, Uros Medic is 3-2 in his five latest fights. On Aug. 9, he finished Gilbert Urbina (7-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a straight left in a minute and three seconds at the UFC Apex.
Just 89 days will have passed between fights for Medic by the time Saturday’s contest happens. How will he fare here?
Rest of the Card
The UFC Vegas 111 main card is rounded out by these fights:
- A lightweight showcase pairing Chris Padilla (16-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) against Ismael Bonfim (20-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC)
- and a middleweight contest matching Christian Leroy Duncan (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) with Marco Tulio (14-1 MMA, 2-0.)
Which of the main card fights are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.
