Two of Ilia Topuria’s former opponents will meet each other on the main card of UFC 320 this fall.
After September passes by without a pay-per-view, the promotion will return to numbered events with a stacked-looking UFC 320 lineup at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on October 4.
The card will be topped by two title fights, with light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev facing Alex Pereira in a rematch and Merab Dvalishvili meeting the challenge of Cory Sandhagen in defense of his bantamweight throne.
A number of intriguing contests are set for the undercard, and one more matchup just joined them…
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Josh Emmett vs Youssef Zalal added to UFC 320 main card
Among the bouts setting the stage for the headlining championship contests is a highly anticipated clash between Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr., which will come after outings for the likes of Joe Pyfer, Patchy Mix, Austin Vanderford, and Ateba Gautier.
And the lineup got even stronger during the broadcast of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event in Shanghai, when a featherweight matchup between Josh Emmett and Youssef Zalal was revealed.
Emmett, an ex-title challenger and the current No. 8-ranked contender at 145 pounds, is coming off a decision loss to Lerone Murphy that stalled the momentum he gained with the Knockout of the Year for 2023 against Bryce Mitchell.
Zalal, meanwhile, rose to No. 9 on the featherweight ladder by defeating Calvin Kattar last time out. The decision victory marked the Moroccan’s fourth straight triumph since returning to the UFC two years after being released.
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Ilia Topuria’s only decisions came against Josh Emmett and Youssef Zalal
The latest matchup added to UFC 320 brings together the only two men to survive Ilia Topuria.
Both men were defeated by the then-future featherweight and lightweight champion, but their fights with the Spaniard mark the only decisions on the brutal knockout artist’s record.
Zalal welcomed Topuria to the UFC in 2020, forcing the newcomer to go the distance in a bout he insists remains the current 155-pound king’s hardest matchup inside the Octagon to date.
Meanwhile, the extent to which Emmett ‘survived’ Topuria’s hands could be argued. The former interim title challenger is the only man to go five rounds with the ‘El Matador’ and lived to hear the scorecards.
The American, though, was badly beaten across 25 minutes in the UFC Jacksonville main event two years ago, so much so that one scorecard even read 50-42 and included an ultra-rare 10-7 round.