Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs Murphy

Murphy arrives at his first main event assignment unbeaten in six UFC starts and sporting a 13-0-1 record overall. He earned a pair of decision wins last year and has looked solid throughout his 5-0-1 run in the Octagon to date, but he’s been out of action since July and takes a solid step up in competition here.

FREE FIGHT | Edson Barboza vs Bill Quarantillo

All the attention in this matchup is focused on Murphy, as he’s the competitor whose ceiling is still undefined. The inconsistent appearance schedule has kept him from building truly meaningful momentum in the competitive 145-pound weight class, but a win over Barboza in a main event setting would absolutely jump-start a push up the rankings for the Manchester native.

Other Main Card Matchups

Khaos Williams vs Carlston Harris

Welterweights aiming to move up another notch in the divisional pecking order clash here as Khaos Williams and Carlston Harris share the Octagon in the co-main event.

Williams returns to action in an interesting position, having fought just twice in the last two years, splitting those fights, with each being a split decision verdict. He came away on the happy side of things last spring at UFC 288, is 5-2 in the UFC, and 14-3 overall, and if he’s going to start making a real push forward in the division, this weekend would be a good starting point.

Adrian Yanez and Vinicius Salvador face off in this meeting of DWCS alums in the bantamweight division.

Yanez returns to Las Vegas looking to recapture some of the magic that marked his first several appearances in the UFC, where he strung together five straight wins, including four consecutive victories in the APEX. But after suffering his first UFC setback last April against Rob Font, he was cut down by Jonathan Martinez in October, sending him into this one on a two-fight slide.

Salvador hopes to replicate the success he had in his Contender Series win over Shannon Ross as he touches down in the APEX again for the first time since that August 2022 triumph. The rangy Brazilian has landed on the wrong side of the results in each of his first two UFC appearances, dropping decisions to Victor Altamirano and CJ Vergara, and hopes to avoid the dreaded three-fight slide here.

The interesting element here is that Salvador is moving up in weight, having previously competed at flyweight, so it will be curious to see how his body has changed since moving up a division and if that results in a shift in his performance and results this weekend.

Luana Pinheiro vs Angela Hill

Luana Pinheiro and Angela Hill share the Octagon in this matchup of ranked strawweights on Saturday’s main card.

Pinheiro competes for the first time since last November when she suffered his first UFC loss to date in a clash with fellow Brazilian Amanda Ribas. Stationed at No. 9 in the rankings, the Nova União representative had won nine straight prior to that setback, most recently edging out Michelle Waterson-Gomez at UFC 287 in Miami.

The always active Hill posted a 1-1 record inside the Octagon last year, suffering a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Mackenzie Dern in May before rebounding with a decision victory of her own over Denise Gomes in Sao Paulo in November. “Overkill” is 3-1 in her last four fights and significantly better than her 16-13 overall record suggests.

FREE FIGHT | Lerone Murphy vs Makwan Amirkhani

Can Pinheiro right the ship and get things moving in the right direction again or will Hill force her way into the Top 10 with another gutsy, gritty, veteran effort this weekend?

Preliminary Card Fights

Abus Magomedov vs Warlley Alves

DWCS alums whose debuts didn’t go so well face off here, as Victor Martinez takes on Tom Nolan.

A member of the Class of ’21, Martinez didn’t make his promotional debut until last February, landing on the business end of a first-round stoppage in a clash with Jordan Leavitt. Australia’s Nolan impressed last season, collecting a first-round stoppage win to earn his contract, but then lasted just 63 seconds against Nikolas Motta in his debut earlier this year.

Tamires Vidal vs Melissa Gatto

Brazilians Tamires Vidal and Melissa Gatto will stand opposite one another in Saturday’s lone contest in the women’s bantamweight ranks.

Vidal landed on the unhappy side of a split decision verdict last time out, dropping her to 1-1 in the UFC and halting her six-fight winning streak. Gatto suffered a similar fate in her lone appearance last year against Ariane da Silva, dropping her record to 2-2 inside the Octagon.

Piera Rodriguez vs Ariane Carnelossi

Piera Rodriguez welcomes Ariane Carnelossi back to the fold in the second of two strawweight contests on Saturday’s card.

“La Fiera” suffered the first loss of her career last time out, ultimately getting tapped in the second round by Gillian Robertson. Carnelossi ends a two-year absence, looking to get back in the win column after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Loopy Godinez in her last appearance at UFC 274.

Alatangheili vs Kleidison Rodrigues

The main card kicks off in the bantamweight division as Alatangheili and Kleidison Rodrigues share the Octagon in Las Vegas.

After earning a pair of victories in 2022, Alatangheili landed on the wrong side of the scorecards in his lone appearance last year, dropping a decision to Chris Gutierrez in October. The 32-year-old “Mongolian Knight” is 4-2-1 in the UFC and has not lost consecutive fights since 2015, a trend he’s hoping to continue this weekend.

It’s been an up-and-down couple years for Rodrigues since he punched his ticket to the UFC roster with a unanimous decision win on Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series. He dropped his debut, withdrew from his next assignment, missed weight ahead of his win over Shannon Ross, missed weight again and then moved to bantamweight, where he was submitted in the first round by Farid Basharat last time out.

Alatangheili has a significant overall experience advantage, though Rodrigues is the younger, quicker of the two. Will age and experience rule the day, or will youth prevail? We’ll find out Saturday.

Vanessa Demopoulos vs Emily Ducote

Strawweights Vanessa Demopoulos and Emily Ducote are tasked with getting the party started this weekend at the UFC APEX.

Demopolous dropped a decision to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her first start of 2023, but rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Kanako Murata five months later to move to 4-2 in her six UFC starts at 115 pounds. Ducote snapped a two-fight slide in her most recent appearance, out-hustling Ashley Yoder to move to 2-2 inside the Octagon and 13-8 overall.