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Par E. Spencer Kyte, on Twitter @spencerkyte • mar. 20, 2023
The UFC makes its first trip to Texas in 2023 with a card featuring a wealth of emerging names and headlined by the second Top 5 bantamweight main event in three weeks.
After Merab Dvalishvili ascended to the top of the list of contenders two weeks back in Las Vegas by outhustling Petr Yan to secure his ninth consecutive victory, Marlon “Chito” Vera and Cory Sandhagen top the marquee this weekend in a meeting of the fighters currently positioned at Nos. 3 and 5, respectively, in the bantamweight rankings.
With the title in the 135-pound weight class set to be defended in early May, this is another critical matchup that will help determine what the landscape of the division looks like going into the UFC 288 championship bout between reigning titleholder Aljamain Sterling and returning former two-division world champion Henry Cejudo and what possible matchups could emerge once the dust settles and the smoke clears.
It should be an exciting wrap-up to a great night of action in “The Alamo City” on Saturday night.
Main Event: Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen
Talented bantamweights looking to solidify their place in the championship queue face off in the main event as Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen close out the show in San Antonio.
Vera has posted two wins in each of the last two years to arrive here on a four-fight winning streak. Last spring, he scored a unanimous decision victory over Rob Font before collecting a fourth-round knockout win over Dominick Cruz in August. The 30-year-old is one of the best developmental stories in UFC history and looks to take another step towards fighting for championship gold with a win here.
After a couple close, competitive losses to TJ Dillashaw and Petr Yan, Sandhagen got back into the win column with a fourth-round stoppage victory over Song Yadong in his lone appearance of 2022. The Colorado resident has only lost to individuals that have held or went on to hold the bantamweight title thus far in his UFC run, and will look to swap places in the rankings by besting Vera on Saturday night.
This should be an extremely competitive, captivating fight, as Sandhagen is a dynamic, fluid striker who uses a great deal of movement and throws in combination, where Vera is constantly seeking to do as much damage as possible. A win may not assure the victor of a title opportunity, but it will keep them very much in the mix as we head into the second quarter of 2023.
Other Main Card Fights
Holly Holm vs. Yana Santos
Holly Holm and Yana Santos meet in a battle of Top 10 bantamweights angling to get things moving in the right direction to kick off their 2023 campaigns.
Holm dropped a widely discussed split decision to Ketlen Vieira in her lone appearance of 2022, logging tons of control time, but doing little damage. Santos returns after giving birth to her first child with her husband, former title challenger Thiago Santos, looking to rebound from a first-round stoppage loss to Irene Aldana in July 2021.
Every clash between ranked fighters in the bantamweight division carries significance, as things in the Top 15 are quite fluid and a couple solid efforts can rocket a fighter up the rankings, so it will be interesting to see how each of these veterans approach this pivotal pairing on Saturday.
Nate Landwehr vs. Austin Lingo
Last time out, Landwehr scored a majority decision win in a knockdown, drag-out battle of attrition with David Onama, earning a second straight post-fight bonus in the process. Lingo jumps in here. replacing Alex Caceres just a couple weeks after his bout with Ricardo Ramos was scrapped at weigh-ins after the Brazilian tipped the scales eight pounds over the featherweight limit. After losing his promotional debut, the Fortis MMA man has earned back-to-back unanimous decision wins.
Will “Nate the Train” get another win and continue building his reputation as a must-see fighter every time he steps into the Octagon or can Lingo collect a third straight win by picking up where he left off in the summer of 2021?
Andrea Lee vs. Maycee Barber
Top 15 talents in the captivating flyweight division meet here as Andrea Lee and Maycee Barber make their first starts of the year.
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The 34-year-old Lee competes for the first time since dropping a unanimous decision to Viviane Araujo last May and looks to reclaim the consistency that carried her to victories in each of her first three UFC appearances before going 2-3 over her last five. Barber enters with designs on extending her winning streak to four, having collected a trio of decision victories since suffering the first two losses of her career.
Currently stationed in the lower third of the Top 15, Saturday’s main card bout is a chance to not only climb further up the divisional ladder but make a statement in a weight class that has been non-stop action over the last couple months and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Alex Perez vs. Manel Kape
Alex Perez and Manel Kape face off in what should be an electric affair in the flyweight division on Saturday’s main card.
Perez ended an 18-month absence last summer, but lasted just 91 seconds against Alexandre Pantoja, sending him into this one stuck in a two-fight skid and searching for his first victory since June 2020. After dropping each of his first two UFC appearances, Kape has flashed the skills that made him a hyped new arrival in 2021, posting consecutive victories over Ode’ Osbourne, Zhalgas Zhumagulov, and David Dvorak.
Brandon Moreno sits atop the flyweight throne and former champ Deiveson Figueiredo has departed for bantamweight, meaning there are opportunities for tenured talents like these two to work their way into the championship mix with a couple strong showings. Expect fireworks for as long as this one lasts.
Chidi Njokuani vs. Albert Duraev
Chidi Njokuani and Albert Duraev share the Octagon here in a battle of middleweight veterans looking to get back into the win column to start 2023.
A graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS), Njokuani earned first-round knockout wins in each of his first two UFC appearances last year before landing on the wrong side of a second-round stoppage against Gregory Rodrigues in September. A fellow member of the DWCS Class of ’21, Duraev outworked Roman Kopylov in his debut, but fell to Joaquin Buckley last summer when he was declared unable to continue due to his eye swelling shut.
Will Njokuani get back to being “Chidi Bang Bang” or will the Russian hand him a second straight defeat while grabbing a victory for himself?
Prelim Fights
Daniel Pineda vs Tucker Lutz
Texas veteran Daniel Pineda faces off with DWCS alum Tucker Lutz in one of two featherweight matchups that close out Saturday’s prelims. Pineda competes for the first time since the summer of 2021, when an accidental eye poke ended his entertaining clash with Andre Fili prematurely. After earning a victory in his promotional debut, Maryland’s Lutz dropped a decision to Gavin Tucker last time out, making this a showdown between fighters looking to get things moving in the right direction to start the year.
Steven Peterson vs Lucas Alexander
Business shifts to the featherweight division as Texas native Steven Peterson takes on Brazilian Lucas Alexander. Last time out, Peterson dropped a split decision to Julian Erosa in one of the most entertaining fights of last year, while Alexander was submitted in two minutes and two ticks in his short-notice debut against fellow Brazilian Joanderson Brito. “Ocho” is incapable of being in a boring fight, so expect he and Alexander to deliver here.
Trevin Giles vs Preston Parsons
Trevin Giles and Preston Parsons look to build on 2022 victories in this welterweight preliminary card clash. Giles halted a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Louis Cosce in September, while Parsons made good on his first full-camp appearance in the Octagon with a win over Evan Elder in April. Who will get a second consecutive win and who will be forced to deal with another defeat?
CJ Vergara vs Daniel Lacerda
DWCS grad and San Antonio representative CJ Vergara faces off with Daniel Lacerda in what should be a spirited flyweight clash. Vergara has gone 1-2 in his first three UFC starts, fighting a tough schedule, while Lacerda gets a fourth opportunity to secure his first victory inside the Octagon this weekend. With Vergara fighting at home and Lacerda being a quick starter, expect this one to get going right away and probably end early.
Manuel Torres vs Trey Ogden
Mexican lightweight Manuel Torres goes in search of his second straight UFC win as he squares off with veteran Trey Ogden on Saturday night. The 27-year-old Torres posted a first-round stoppage win over Frank Camacho in his promotional debut last May, while Ogden outworked another DWCS grad from Mexico, Daniel Zellhuber, in his last outing.
Victor Altamirano vs Vinicius Salvador
Victor Altamirano was a year ahead of Vinicius Salvador on Dana White’s Contender Series, but their paths cross in the Octagon this weekend. Altamirano scored an impressive stoppage win over Lacerda last time out, while Saturday marks Salvador’s first trip into the UFC cage, making this an intriguing clash of talented flyweights looking to build some real momentum.
Hailey Cowan vs Tamires Vidal
Hailey Cowan and Tamires Vidal open the show in San Antonio in what should be a competitive bantamweight clash to kick things off. Cowan was a late scratch from her bout with Ailin Perez last month but turns around quickly in order to finally make the walk for the first time, while Vidal looks to build on her debut victory over Ramona Pascual from November in her sophomore appearance.
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