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The UFC returns to the APEX in Las Vegas for its next offering: UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier on Saturday. In the headliner, a potential No. 1 contender at middleweight is set as Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier vie for another opportunity against reigning UFC champion Israel Adesanya.
In the co-headliner, Arman Tsarukyan hopes to add another win to his résumé against Joaquim Silva. But before we get to the fights, the fighters have to successfully weigh in, which is why we are here.
Late changes to the UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier line-up
Before we get started, it should be noted that two fights have already fallen off of UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier. On Thursday, the promotion announced that a bantamweight bout between Raoni Barcelos and Miles Johns was cancelled due to injury. Johns came forward and confirmed he suffered an injury during one of his final training sessions ahead of the fight, which led to the cancellation.
A few hours after the first cancellation, a second followed, as a flyweight fight between Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Felipe Bunes was removed. ‘Zhako’ joked another opponent had fallen victim to his ‘Paddy Pimblett’ haircut, but Bunes eventually revealed the real reason.
“Hi everyone,” wrote Bunes on Instagram. “My fight has been cancelled due to a drug test subject to further analysis. I have provided all the necessary information and I hope to have all this sorted out in the coming days so I can fight soon. Thank you.”
Instead of 14 fights, UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier moves forward with 12, barring anything going wrong at weigh-ins.
Vettori and Cannonier vie for a shot at Israel Adesanya again
Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier have already shared the Octagon with Israel Adesanya, losing decisions to the ‘Last Stylebender’ in their respective appearances. That said, a win for either fighter here could get them closer to another crack at Adesanya, who reclaimed his throne with a stunning second-round KO of Alex Pereira at UFC 287 this past April.
The ‘Italian Dream’ and ‘Killa Gorilla’ recently returned to the win column with decisions against Roman Dolidze and Sean Strickland at UFC 286 and UFC Vegas 66, respectively.
Last unranked opponent for Arman Tsarukyan?
Arman Tsarukyan wants to do away with unranked opponents, with Joaquim Silva hopefully being the final one he faces in the Octagon. ‘Akhalkalakets’ has previously complained that the upper echelon of the UFC lightweight division ‘do anything to avoid fighting down the rankings,’ so he will look to catapult himself to a position where he is no longer avoided. He enters this fight fresh off a decision win against Damir Ismagulov at UFC Vegas 66 this past December.
Looking to dash his hopes is Silva, who is 2-2 in his past four UFC appearances. After back-to-back KO losses to Nasrat Haqparast and Ricky Glenn, the Brazilian got back on track with a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded TKO of Jesse Ronson at UFC Vegas 61 this past October.
UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier weigh-in results
Weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Cannonier start at 12 p.m. ET (9 a.m. PT) and are expected to run for two hours. Stay right here to see updates as the 24 fighters of the upcoming event hit the scales.
You can also watch a live stream of the weigh-ins here, courtesy of MMA Junkie:
Main Card (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) (ESPN/ESPN+)
- Middleweight: Marvin Vettori (185.5) vs. Jared Cannonier (185.5)
- Lightweight: Arman Tsarukyan (155.5) vs. Joaquim Silva (155.5)
- Middleweight: Armen Petrosyan (186) vs. Christian Leroy Duncan (186)
- Featherweight: Pat Sabatini (145) vs. Lucas Almeida (145.5)
- Lightweight: Manuel Torres (156) vs. Nikolas Motta (155.5)
- Welterweight: Nicolas Dalby (170.5) vs. Muslim Salikhov (170)
Preliminary Card (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT) (ESPN2/ESPN+)
- Flyweight: Jimmy Flick (125.5) vs. Alessandro Costa (126)
- Bantamweight: Kang Kyung-Ho (135.5) vs. Cristian Quiñónez (135)
- Flyweight: Carlos Hernandez (125) vs. Denys Bondar (126)
- Flyweight: Tereza Bledá (125) vs. Gabriella Fernandes (126)
- Bantamweight: Dan Argueta (136) vs. Ronnie Lawrence (136)
- Light Heavyweight: Zac Pauga (205) vs. Modestas Bukauskas (205)
Note: Raoni Barcelos weighed in for his cancelled fight at 136 pounds.
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