Soon the UFC will be holding events at it’s new location “Fight Island,” also known as Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. But before then the promotion has one last event in it’s stint of shows at studio venue, the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Headlining the 10-fight card is two lightweights in Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker. Here’s a preview of Saturday’s show.
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Prelims (6:00PM EDT / 3:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 1, 4 & 5)
Bout 1: Jordan Griffin (18-7) vs. Youssef Zalal (8-2) (Featherweight)
After a successful UFC debut back in February, Youssef Zalal will return to the octagon on Saturday. He will be matched with Jordan Griffin, a fighter who is just getting his footing in the promotion. Griffin lost his first two, being decisions against Dan Ige and Chas Skelly. His first win came in February after defeated TJ Brown with a guillotine choke.
Bout 2: Jinh Yu Frey (9-4) vs. Kay Hansen (6-3) (Strawweight)
A double debut takes place on the prelims between two Invicta FC veterans. The promotion’s former atomweight champion Jinh Yu Frey will be matched against Kay Hansen in a strawweight bout. Frey won the 105-pound belt in 2018, defending it once after. Her last fight was a five-round win over Ashley Cummins. While the fight was initially for the atomweight belt, Frey had to vacate it after missing weight.
Hansen’s last two wins come from Invicta FC, with the most recent of the two being over Liana Pirosin in March.
Bout 3: Takashi Sato (15-3) vs. Jason Witt (17-5) (Welterweight)
After Ramiz Brahimaj was taken off of this card, Takashi Sato needed a new opponent quickly. Jason Witt answered the call late Thursday night. Showing how last minute his booking really was, Witt was granted the chance to weigh in on a separate time than the rest of the card for Saturday’s action.
Witt will be making his UFC debut with previous fights in promotions like Bellator and LFA.
With a new opponent, Sato has the goal of bouncing back from his first UFC loss, which came by the hands of Belal Muhammad at UFC 242. The former Pancrase fighter currently has a 1-1 record in the promotion, with his UFC debut being just over a year ago over Ben Saunders.
Bout 4: Luis Pena (8-2) vs. Khama Worthy (15-6) (Lightweight)
Finishing off the somewhat brief prelim card is a lightweight bout between Luis Pena and Khama Worthy. Pena, also known by his famous nickname “Violent Bob Ross” has been a frequent fighter since debuting in the UFC in 2018. His most recent fight saw him bounce back from his second loss as a pro, defeating Steve Garcia via decision. He faces a tough challenge, as his opponent, Worthy, has not lost in his last six fights. The UFC debut for Worthy over Devonte Smith at UFC 241 was an explosive one, knocking him out in the first round. The win, no pun intended, was decided to be worthy of a “Performance of the Night” bonus.
Main Card (8:00PM EDT / 5:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 1, 4 & 5)
Bout 5: Sean Woodson (7-0) vs. Julian Erosa (23-8) (Catchweight 150-lbs)
A catchweight bout will kick off the main card as undefeated Sean Woodson faces Julian Erosa. Woodson’s UFC debut last October was successful, getting a unanimous decision against Kyle Bochniak. He looks to win again, facing Erosa who is making his UFC return.
Replacing Kyle Nelson who was taken off the card on short notice, Erosa will begin his third stint in the UFC. His first dates back to 2015, where he went 1-1. Then nine fights later, he gets the call up again in 2018. After an 0-3 run, Erosa finds himself out of the UFC again. Now with a win in February over A.J. Bryant on the regional scene, the persistent Erosa will get the call yet again.
Bout 6: Tanner Boser (17-6-1) vs. Philipe Lins (14-4) (Heavyweight)
While being the winner of the heavyweight division in the 2018 PFL Season, success wasn’t instant for Philipe Lins in the UFC. Making his promotional debut in May, Lins lost via decision to veteran Andrei Arlovski. Now, he steps in against Tanner Boser, still in search of that first win. Boser is 1-1 in the UFC, with his last fight being a decision loss in December to Ciryl Gane.
Bout 7: Brendan Allen (14-3) vs. Kyle Daukaus (9-0) (Middleweight)
For a while now rising middleweight Brendan Allen has been successful. Whether you’ve seen him recently in LFA, or his fight on TV series “Dana White’s Contender Series” or the first two fights of his UFC career, you’ve seen him win. With a six-fight winning streak, Allen is matched against Kyle Daukaus. A longtime fighter for regional promotion CFFC, undefeated Daukaus will step into the UFC for the first time. Two up-and-coming middleweights will clash on the main card, and there’s only room for one to move up.
Bout 8: Maurice Greene (8-4) vs. Gian Villante (17-11) (Heavyweight)
Heavyweights Maurice Greene and Gian Villante will fight on the main card. Villante has hung around the UFC for quite some time, although he’s never been consistently putting together wins. He looks to even his 7-8 promotion record on Saturday. Greene aims to avoid a three-fight losing streak in the fight. A win for him would mean his fourth in the promotion.
Bout 9: Mickey Gall (6-2) vs. Mike Perry (13-6) (Welterweight)
The co-main event sees welterweights Mickey Gall and Mike Perry square off. Gall, who has fought in the UFC since his second professional bout, has attained a 6-2 record since. His last fight came in August, where he got a decision victory over Salim Touahri. Perry’s last two fights came against Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal, both being losses.
Bout 10: Dustin Poirier (25-6) vs. Dan Hooker (20-8) (Lightweight)
An important fight for the lightweight division headlines the show. In the main event, third ranked lightweight Dustin Poirier faces fifth ranked Dan Hooker.
Poirier, a fighter who’s been fighting at a high level for a decade now saw gold for the first time last year. In April of 2019, Poirier defeated Max Holloway via decision to be crowned the interim UFC Lightweight Champion. Fast forward five months, Poirier got the guaranteed unification bout against UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The fight did not go Poirier’s way, as a rear naked choke put an end to the fight in the third round. Now, begins another ascension to the top with a fight against Hooker.
Hooker has also been a longtime UFC fighter with his first fight in the promotion dating back to 2014. Having a 50/50 win rate through his first six fights, Hooker really found his footing in 2017. Since 2017, Hooker has went 7-1, with his one loss coming against Edson Barboza. His last fight was in February, where Hooker went 25 minutes for a split decision win over Paul Felder. The win was his first headlining fight since 2013, when he fought in Australian FC.
After five-straight weeks in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, UFC will take a week off next week. After that, the promotion will head to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi for UFC 251, the first of four events they have scheduled for the location.
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