This weekend the UFC heads to Atlantic City for a Fight Night featuring future Women’s Flyweight title challenger, Erin Blanchfield & France’s own, Manot Fiorot.
The Prelims kick off at 6pm CST on ESPN+ and starts with a Bantamweight bout featuring Caolan “The Don” Loughran & Angel Pacheco. Loughran is coming into this fight off a tough decision loss to Taylor Lapilus in his UFC debut last year. The Irish prospect is adamant he belongs among the best fighters in the world and aims to show fans just that come Saturday night.
Next up we see a Middleweight match-up between Andre Petroski and Jacob Malkoun. Petroski is coming into this fight after losing to Michel Pereira via TKO last October. Prior to this, the Renzo Gracie prospect had strung together a streak of five wins under the UFC banner & aims to get back to his winning ways come Saturday night. However his opponent in Jacob Malkoun is certainly a tough night at the office for any 185er’. With impressive cardio and a strong wrestling base, Malkoun will look to grind out another dominant win against the ever-so dangerous Petroski.
Another prelim matchup to keep an eye on is a Light-Heavyweight bout between “The Last Ottoman” Ibo Aslan and Sweden’s own, Anton Turkalj. Four years removed from their first fight, these two dangerous prospects meet again- this time under the UFC banner. Turkalj ended up taking home the victory against Aslan, winning the right via RNC in the second round. While on paper this may seem extremely notable, Turkalj went on to have a rocky start to his UFC career meanwhile Aslan went on a four fight winning streak, all by way of first round KO. However it plays out, this should be an action-packed fight and I doubt it goes the full fifteen minutes.
Next we see a Women’s Straw-weight fight between the seasoned veteran, Virna Jandiroba & rising contender, “Loopy” Lupita Godinez. Jandiroba is coming into Saturday night on a two-fight winning streak, defeating Marina Rodriguez & Angela Hill respectfully. With an impressive 13 career wins via submission, Jandiroba has more than proven she is one of the most skilled BJJ specialists among the Straw-weight division. However her next opponent, Loopy Godinez, is too on a winning streak and wants to break into the top 5 with a win on Saturday night. Proudly repping Mexico every time she makes the walk to the octagon, Loopy has become a fan favorite with her exciting grappling style and willingness to bring the fight to her opponents. Riding high after a huge decision win against Tabatha Ricci last year, Godinez aims to continue her rise to the belt and a finish over a Top-5 opponent would do just that.
Moving forward, we see our featured prelim of the card as fan favorite, Nate “The Train” Landwehr taking on Jamall Emmers. It’s hard not to love a fighter like Nate Landwehr, with legendary post-fight speeches coupled with a ferocity inside the cage make this prospect stand out from the rest. However, Landwehr is certainly no debutant when it comes to fighting as he boasts a record of 17-5 in his professional career, notching wins over the likes of Darren Elkins, Ludovit Klein & David Onama to name a few. Jamall Emmers, similar to Landwehr, is a highly skilled veteran who has flown a bit under the radar throughout his UFC tenure. With sneakily impressive wins such as Corey Sandhagen and Khusein Askhabov, Emmers continues to build his resume as he climbs the ever-so daunting ranks of the UFC 155 pound division. While I too enjoy the reckless, action-packed fight style that Landwehr brings to the octagon, I believe Emmers will be able to out-skill and fight smarter over the course of fifteen minutes. Regardless, this is one fight you do not want to miss come Saturday night.
The Main Card of UFC Fight Night Atlantic City kicks off at 9:00pm CST on ESPN+ and begins with a Welterweight matchup between former 185er’ Chidi “Bang Bang” Njokuani squaring off against Rhys “Skeletor” McKee. Njokuani is dropping down a weight-class after suffering a string of three consecutive losses and looks to get back on track tomorrow night. Chidi has explosive power and massive finishing potential but has certainly shown issues in his durability as two of his last three losses came by way of KO. Meanwhile his opponent in McKee has too found mixed success within the organization, even getting cut in 2020 after two consecutive loses to Khamzat Chimaev & Alex Morono respectively. While McKee did put together a string of three straight victories- earning back his UFC contract, he ended up dropping his first fight back under the company’s banner & now is in a ‘must win’ scenario or he may see a second exit should it not go his way on Saturday night.
One fight on the Main Card to keep an eye on is certainly the Middleweight matchup between the talented Uzbekistan native, Nursulton Ruziboev and rising contender, Sedriques Dumas. Standing at a staggering six foot five, Ruziboev burst onto the UFC scene with an impressive first-round finish over Bruno Ferreira last summer and aims to continue his rise up the rankings. His opponent in Dumas is similar in build, presenting difficulties with his length and range while constantly threatening submissions should the fight hit the ground. With only one taste of defeat in ten professional MMA fights, Dumas has continued to prove that he belongs within the confines of the UFC and is only improving with time.
Next we get to see a true UFC legend in Chris Weidman take on dangerous striker Bruno Silva in a three round Middleweight bout. Weidman is returning to action after an unfortunate loss to Brad Tavares last year. The future Hall-of-fame fighter, while never losing hope nor taking a back-step, took a brutal beating from Tavares and did not show the fans much hope for a resurgence despite the strong display of heart. Bruno Silva, who had a TKO win over Tavares earlier last year, is coming into this fight on a three-fight skid and is looking to get back to his finishing ways against the older Weidman.
The Co-Main event is a Welterweight bout between crafty veteran Vincente Luque & dangerous knockout artist, Joaquin “New Mansa” Buckley. Luque, while having a granite chin for the majority of his career, has shown signs of deterioration after suffering a brutal knockout loss to Geoff Neal in 2022 which left him sidelined with a brain injury for an entire year. While the 32 year old did bounce back with a decision victory over Rafael dos Anjos last August, he will be facing a younger threat in Buckley who has all the tools to secure a finish on the feet as long as it stays standing. However, Buckley will need to be patient and not try to force a finish as Luque will have the edge in experience as well as in the grappling & can latch up a submission at any time.
Finally, the Main event of UFC Fight Night: Atlantic City is a title-eliminator in the Women’s Flyweight division between #2 ranked Erin Blanchfield & #3 ranked Manon Fiorot. Blanchfield has been tearing through the division- winning all six of her scheduled fights since joining the promotion in 2021. The talented grappler and submission expert has shown very few weaknesses thus far however is much less involved in the striking game which her next opponent may use to her advantage. Manon Fiorot, who is also on a six-fight winning streak, has shown she is a level above the other Flyweights- specifically in the striking department. Her crisp boxing and kicks coupled with impressive takedown defense has made Fiorot a true threat to any and all opponents. This matchup is a genuine battle between fighting styles and could go either way, depending on who can implement their game first and more effectively over the course of 25 minutes. Either way, this will be a high-level fight regardless of the final outcome.
Commentaires