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UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas Preview
At 7 PM EST on Saturday, March 20, Amanda Ribas and Rose Namajunas battle in the Women’s Flyweight Division on ESPN and ESPN+ at the Apex in Las Vegas. It’s a card filled with many fun names who are looking to get statement wins and make their case for featured fights in the future. Let’s take a look at the card…
Main Card (10 PM EST on ESPN and ESPN+)
Amanda Ribas vs. Rose Namajunas
Karl Williams vs. Junior Tafa
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. AJ Dobson
Payton Talbott vs. Cameron Saaiman
Billy Quarantillo vs. Youssef Zalal
Fernando Padilla vs. Luis Pajuelo
Preliminary Card (7 PM EST on ESPN+)
Kurt Holobaugh vs. Trey Ogden
Ricardo Ramos vs. Julian Erosa
Miles Johns vs. Cody Gibson
Jarno Errens vs. Steven Nguyen
Montserrat Rendon vs. Dariya Zgeleznykova
Mohammed Usman vs. Mick Parkin
Igor da Silva vs. Andre Lima
The Prelims
These Prelims have a bunch of fun names who have a chance to standout on Saturday. Let’s take a look at what I’m looking forward to:
Mohammed Usman vs. Mick Parkin should be fun. Usman is intense and always fighting for the win, even when he runs out of gas. He’ll be going against the undefeated Mick Parkin who has been winning by decision lately. This will be a fun heavyweight fight to get the early Prelims flowing. With so many questions in the division, these guys could possibly make a case for a fight that will get them closer to the Top 15 the next time out with an impressive win here.
Montserrat Rendon vs. Dariya Zgeleznykova is a fun Women’s Bantamweight matchup featuring two interesting prospects. Both women have had success outside of the UFC, so this will be a great way to showcase that they belong.
Despite losing The Ultimate Fighter, Cody Gibson returns to take on Miles Johns. This is another opportunity for Gibson to be in the UFC and I expect him to try and prove that he’s not going anywhere. Miles Johns is always down to have a fight and will be making Gibson’s mission tough. Johns has been having trouble with banned substances in his recent fights, though, so we shall see if things stay clean here. Either way, an impressive win by either gets them on track in the division.
Kurt Holobaugh is back after his win on The Ultimate Fighter. This second chance in the UFC means a lot to Kurt, so he’ll be doing everything to keep his winning streak going.
Payton Talbott vs. Cameron Saaiman
I can’t wait for this one! The undefeated Payton Talbott will be taking on Cameron Saaiman, who will be trying to come back from his first loss in MMA. Both men are very well-rounded and are big time prospects in the Bantamweight Division. Win or lose, both of these men should continue to get opportunities in the division. However, an impressive win should catapult one of these men to a really nice featured fight. I expect big things from both, though. While I am looking forward to this, a part of me is a little sad that they are fighting each other already, as this could be a marquee matchup in the future. But hey - a rematch with a story is always nice, too, right?
Karl Williams vs. Junior Tafa
Remember when Junior Tafa was replaced by his brother, Justin Tafa, at UFC 298? Well, this is the receipt. Junior pays the favor back and takes Justin’s original place to take on Karl Williams. Despite the Tafa flip flop, this should still be a fun, back and forth Heavyweight fight. A nice appetizer for the main event.
Amanda Ribas vs. Rose Namajunas
Although Rose Namajunas is used to being a featured match, she’s not used to losing two in a row. However, that’s exactly what happened last year for the first time in her career since 2014. She has never lost three in a row, so she’ll be looking to keep that true on Saturday against the very tough Amanda Ribas. Ribas has been going back and forth between Strawweight and Flyweight so this will be a good test for Rose’s second Flyweight fight. Ribas has gone 3-3 in her last six fights. The UFC seems like they really want to push her in a division, so a win here would help her make that happen. However, a hungry Thug Rose is very hard to bet against.
My picks for the card…
Main Card
Rose Namajunas
Karl Williams
Edmen Shahbazyan
Payton Talbott
Billy Quarantillo
Fernando Padilla
Preliminary Card
Kurt Holobaugh
Ricardo Ramos
Cody Gibson
Steven Nguyen
Montserrat Rendon
Mohammed Usman
Andre Lima
Even though this is at the Apex and most people’s excitement is being saved for UFC 300, don’t sleep on this card! There are quite a few fun fights on here, including the Prelims.
Do you plan on watching? If so, who do you have winning? Let me know at matt.tenhoeve@gmail.com. I’ll be back after the fight weekend to talk about the results. See you then!
