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The world’s premiere MMA league is staying in Las Vegas this weekend as UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza kicks off live Saturday night (October 14th) from the APEX facility in Nevada. Capping off this fight night will be a clash of prolific strikers when longtime ranked featherweight, Edson Barboza, meets the UFC’s #11 rated 145-pounder, Sodiq Yusuff. The start time for this UFC fight card is set for 4:00 pm ET.
These two were actually booked to fight back in 2020, but unfortunately Yusuff was forced out for undisclosed reasons. Hopefully it’s time for this banger to actually happen, and as an added bonus, it’ll take place across a scheduled five-rounds.
I think it’s fair to say that Barboza is the more proven striker thus far at the elite level, considering how long he’s been around the block. Meanwhile, Sodiq can be considered the more well-rounded of the two. Yusuff is willing to deploy his grappling offense if the occasion suits it, like he did with his 30-second standing guillotine of Don Shainis in his last outing. Edson on the other hand, he predominantly uses his grappling to get himself back to open space. Yusuff might throw in some takedown attempts, but I expect them to just stand and trade.
Much like the main event for this UFC fight card, the co-main is between two fighters who were scheduled to square off once before, but the original matchup never came to fruition. The promotion’s #9 ranked flyweight, Jennifer Maia, will collide the #11 ranked, Viviane Araujo.
Maia hit a little 1-3 rough patch there, including a decision loss to the former UFC flyweight champ, Valentina Shevchenko. She rebounded, though, with back-to-back wins over the likes of Maryna Moroz and Casey O’Neill. Ironically enough, Araujo is currently enduring her own 1-3 rough patch. Viviane is looking to rebound after dropping consecutive bouts, first to the now champion, Alexa Grasso, and then to Amanda Ribas. A fighter coming off of two wins, pitted against one coming off of two losses is kind of a weird booking, but here we are.
Also, Jonathan Martinez vs. Adrian Yanez is going to be bananas!
UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza Full fight card
Main card
- – Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza: Featherweight
- – Viviane Araujo vs. Jennifer Maia: (W) Flyweight
- – Jonathan Martinez vs. Adrian Yanez: Bantamweight
- – Christian Rodriguez vs. Cameron Saaiman: Bantamweight
- – Edgar Cháirez vs. Daniel Lacerda: Flyweight
- – Michel Pereira vs. Andre Petroski: Middleweight
Prelims
- – Irina Alekseeva vs. Melissa Dixon: Middleweight
- – Ashley Yoder vs. Emily Ducote: Strawweight
- – Darren Elkins vs. TJ Brown: Featherweight
- – Tainara Lisboa vs. Ravena Oliveira: (W) Bantamweight
- – Chris Gutierrez vs Alatengheili: Bantamweight
Start date and time
UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza takes place on October 14th, at the APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event starts at 7 p.m. ET. The prelims begin at 4 p.m. ET.
What comes after UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs. Green?
The next event after UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza is UFC 294: Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2, and this event will happen on October 21st from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Headlining that card will be a rematch between the UFC’s lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, and the man he took the title from, Charles Oliveira. The co-main here will see the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev tangle with an explosive Paulo Costa.
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