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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs Murphy
Setting The Table For Saturday’s Return To The UFC APEX
By E Spencer Kyte, On X: @spencerekyte
The UFC plays its lone home game of the month this weekend with a return to Las Vegas for an event headlined by talented featherweights Edson Barboza and Lerone Murphy and backed by a supporting cast filled with ascending talents and competitive pairings.
Main Event: Edson Barboza vs Lerone Murphy
Veteran striker Edson Barboza and unbeaten Brit Lerone Murphy man the main event position this weekend at the UFC APEX.
The ageless Barboza had a bounce back year in 2023, halting a two-fight skid with a first-round knockout win over Billy Quarantillo in April before authoring one of the best comebacks of the year in October when he survived, then out-worked, Sodiq Yusuff. Universally regarded as someone that has fought one of the toughest slates in UFC history, the Brazilian remains a fixture in the Top 15 and a dangerous threat for anyone that steps into the cage with him.
Murphy arrives at his first main event assignment unbeaten in six UFC starts and sporting a 13-0-1 record overall. He earned a pair of decision wins last year and has looked solid throughout his 5-0-1 run in the Octagon to date, but he’s been out of action since July and takes a solid step up in competition here.
All the attention in this matchup is focused on Murphy, as he’s the competitor whose ceiling is still undefined. The inconsistent appearance schedule has kept him from building truly meaningful momentum in the competitive 145-pound weight class, but a win over Barboza in a main event setting would absolutely jump-start a push up the rankings for the Manchester native.
Other Main Card Matchups
Khaos Williams vs Carlston Harris
Welterweights aiming to move up another notch in the divisional pecking order clash here as Khaos Williams and Carlston Harris share the Octagon in the co-main event.
Williams returns to action in an interesting position, having fought just twice in the last two years, splitting those fights, with each being a split decision verdict. He came away on the happy side of things last spring at UFC 288, is 5-2 in the UFC, and 14-3 overall, and if he’s going to start making a real push forward in the division, this weekend would be a good starting point.
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The 36-year-old Harris is an under-appreciated talent, having amassed a 4-1 record inside the Octagon with three finishes and his lone setback coming against Shavkat Rakhmonov. Last time out, the native of Guyana laced up an anaconda choke on Jeremiah Wells and put him to sleep.
Williams has always carried a little more buzz, but Harris has been the more consistent of the two thus far, so it will be interesting to see which of these two aspiring welterweights will emerge victorious and take another step forward in the divisional ranks.
Themba Gorimbo vs Ramiz Brahimaj
Welterweight hopefuls Themba Gorimbo and Ramiz Brahimaj face off in the middle of the main card.
Gorimbo enters having earned consecutive victories inside the Octagon and plenty of attention outside of the cage due to his personal story and friendship with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Brahimaj returns for the first time since early 2022, having navigated a career-threatening injury to see if he can build on his first-round finish of Micheal Gillmore last time out.
Adrian Yanez vs Vinicius Salvador
Adrian Yanez and Vinicius Salvador face off in this meeting of DWCS alums in the bantamweight division.
Yanez returns to Las Vegas looking to recapture some of the magic that marked his first several appearances in the UFC, where he strung together five straight wins, including four consecutive victories in the APEX. But after suffering his first UFC setback last April against Rob Font, he was cut down by Jonathan Martinez in October, sending him into this one on a two-fight slide.
Salvador hopes to replicate the success he had in his Contender Series win over Shannon Ross as he touches down in the APEX again for the first time since that August 2022 triumph. The rangy Brazilian has landed on the wrong side of the results in each of his first two UFC appearances, dropping decisions to Victor Altamirano and CJ Vergara, and hopes to avoid the dreaded three-fight slide here.
The interesting element here is that Salvador is moving up in weight, having previously competed at flyweight, so it will be curious to see how his body has changed since moving up a division and if that results in a shift in his performance and results this weekend.
Luana Pinheiro vs Angela Hill
Luana Pinheiro and Angela Hill share the Octagon in this matchup of ranked strawweights on Saturday’s main card.
Pinheiro competes for the first time since last November when she suffered his first UFC loss to date in a clash with fellow Brazilian Amanda Ribas. Stationed at No. 9 in the rankings, the Nova União representative had won nine straight prior to that setback, most recently edging out Michelle Waterson-Gomez at UFC 287 in Miami.
The always active Hill posted a 1-1 record inside the Octagon last year, suffering a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Mackenzie Dern in May before rebounding with a decision victory of her own over Denise Gomes in Sao Paulo in November. “Overkill” is 3-1 in her last four fights and significantly better than her 16-13 overall record suggests.
Can Pinheiro right the ship and get things moving in the right direction again or will Hill force her way into the Top 10 with another gutsy, gritty, veteran effort this weekend?
Preliminary Card Fights
Abus Magomedov vs Warlley Alves
Abus Magomedov and Warlley Alves clash in a battle of middleweights desperate to get back into the win column.
The 33-year-old won his debut in just 19 seconds, but has been on the wrong side of things since, dropping consecutive contests to Sean Strickland and Caio Borralho. Alves enters on a three-fight slide, having dropped his short-notice middleweight fight against Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 294.
Victor Martinez vs Tom Nolan
DWCS alums whose debuts didn’t go so well face off here, as Victor Martinez takes on Tom Nolan.
A member of the Class of ’21, Martinez didn’t make his promotional debut until last February, landing on the business end of a first-round stoppage in a clash with Jordan Leavitt. Australia’s Nolan impressed last season, collecting a first-round stoppage win to earn his contract, but then lasted just 63 seconds against Nikolas Motta in his debut earlier this year.
Tamires Vidal vs Melissa Gatto
Brazilians Tamires Vidal and Melissa Gatto will stand opposite one another in Saturday’s lone contest in the women’s bantamweight ranks.
Vidal landed on the unhappy side of a split decision verdict last time out, dropping her to 1-1 in the UFC and halting her six-fight winning streak. Gatto suffered a similar fate in her lone appearance last year against Ariane da Silva, dropping her record to 2-2 inside the Octagon.
Piera Rodriguez vs Ariane Carnelossi
Piera Rodriguez welcomes Ariane Carnelossi back to the fold in the second of two strawweight contests on Saturday’s card.
“La Fiera” suffered the first loss of her career last time out, ultimately getting tapped in the second round by Gillian Robertson. Carnelossi ends a two-year absence, looking to get back in the win column after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Loopy Godinez in her last appearance at UFC 274.
Alatangheili vs Kleidison Rodrigues
The main card kicks off in the bantamweight division as Alatangheili and Kleidison Rodrigues share the Octagon in Las Vegas.
After earning a pair of victories in 2022, Alatangheili landed on the wrong side of the scorecards in his lone appearance last year, dropping a decision to Chris Gutierrez in October. The 32-year-old “Mongolian Knight” is 4-2-1 in the UFC and has not lost consecutive fights since 2015, a trend he’s hoping to continue this weekend.
It’s been an up-and-down couple years for Rodrigues since he punched his ticket to the UFC roster with a unanimous decision win on Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series. He dropped his debut, withdrew from his next assignment, missed weight ahead of his win over Shannon Ross, missed weight again and then moved to bantamweight, where he was submitted in the first round by Farid Basharat last time out.
Alatangheili has a significant overall experience advantage, though Rodrigues is the younger, quicker of the two. Will age and experience rule the day, or will youth prevail? We’ll find out Saturday.
Vanessa Demopoulos vs Emily Ducote
Strawweights Vanessa Demopoulos and Emily Ducote are tasked with getting the party started this weekend at the UFC APEX.
Demopolous dropped a decision to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her first start of 2023, but rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Kanako Murata five months later to move to 4-2 in her six UFC starts at 115 pounds. Ducote snapped a two-fight slide in her most recent appearance, out-hustling Ashley Yoder to move to 2-2 inside the Octagon and 13-8 overall.
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