Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs Pyfer

It’s your classic “Veteran vs Prospect” encounter as Jack Hermansson squares off with Joe Pyfer in Saturday night’s main event.

Hermansson returns for the first time since December 2022, when he fell to Roman Dolidze in Orlando. “The Joker” has been a Top 10 mainstay for a number of years, but has struggled to string together the necessary wins to truly put himself in title contention.

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After setting the tone for Season 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series with his second-round stoppage win over Ozzy Diaz, Pyfer has continued storming through the competition through his first three UFC appearances. Last time out, the Philadelphia native offered a glimpse of his grappling skills, submitting Abdul Razak Alhassan to pick up his first submission finish inside the Octagon.

This is a test on top of a test for Pyfer — a showdown with a 31-fight veteran that has been in there with the best in the division, and a main event assignment at that — and depending on how things shake out, this one could have a significant impact on the landscape of the division going forward.

Main Card Matchups

Dan Ige vs Andre Fili

The co-main event is a clash between veteran featherweights as Dan Ige squares off with Team Alpha Male’s Andre Fili.

Ige broke out of a three-fight slide at the start of last year, building further forward momentum with a win in Vancouver in June before dropping a decision to Bryce Mitchell in September. Last year was a reminder of how game and steady the Xtreme Couture man is inside the Octagon, and this weekend’s contest is another opportunity to further cement his place in the hierarchy.

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Fili jumps right back into the fray after collecting a first-round stoppage win over Lucas Almeida at UFC 296, raising his hand to replace Lerone Murphy here. The now 33-year-old divisional mainstay has been inconsistent over his career, but when he’s dialed in, Fili is a dangerous matchup for anyone in the 145-pound ranks.

Will Ige get right back into the win column to begin the year or can Fili build off his brilliant showing to close out 2023 with a second straight victory on Saturday?

Robert Bryczek vs Ihor Potieria

Newcomer Robert Bryczek makes his promotional debut on Saturday, stepping in with Ihor Potieria.

The 33-year-old Polish middleweight touches down in the Octagon riding a five-fight winning streak, with each of those wins coming in the first round. He’s faced some familiar names along the way, but it's always difficult to know what to expect from a veteran competitor on a hot streak stepping into the UFC arena for the first time.

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A member of the DWCS Class of ’21, Potieria went 1-3 in four fights at light heavyweight, with all four outings ending inside the distance. He jumps in here, replacing Albert Duraev, and makes the move down a division for the first time, hoping to get things moving in the right direction again.

Bryczek hasn’t spent more than three minutes in the cage in over two years, bombing his way to the biggest fight of his career on Saturday night, so it will be interesting to see if Potieria will engage him on his terms or aim to drag him into deeper waters.

Brad Tavares vs Gregory Rodrigues

TUF 12 finalist Michael Johnson welcomes Darrius Flowers to the UFC lightweight division for the first time in this meeting of fighters with vastly different levels of experience inside the Octagon.

“The Menace” has had a fascinating UFC career, boasting wins over Tony Ferguson, Edson Barboza, and Dustin Poirier, while also landing on the wrong side of things in matchups with the likes of Reza Madadi, Clay Guida, and Jamie Mullarkey. He looked sharp in his last outings right up until Diego Ferreira uncorked a fastball that landed flush and put him to sleep.

A member of the DWCS Class of ’22, Flowers made his promotional debut on short notice at welterweight, landing on the wrong side of things against Jake Matthews at UFC 291. He’s never fought professionally at lightweight, but given his stature and how undersized he looked against Matthews, this feels like the right division for Flowers going forward.

Can Johnson collect a victory and begin the year on a positive note or will Flowers garner a quality win over one of the most experienced fighters in the weight class to kick off his time in the 155-pound ranks?

Rodolfo Vieira vs Armen Petrosyan

Trevin Giles welcomes Carlos Prates to the UFC in the final preliminary card bout of the night.

Giles has gone 2-2 inside the Octagon since dropping to welterweight, most recently getting submitted in the first round by Gabriel Bonfim at UFC 291. Prates punched his ticket to the big stage with a second-round finish of Mitch Ramirez last season on Dana White’s Contender Series, extending his winning streak to seven in the process.

Bolaji Oki vs Timothy Cuamba

Newcomers Bolaji Oki and Timothy Cuamba face off in an interesting contest on Saturday’s prelims.

After roster staple Damir Hadzovic was forced to withdraw from the bout, Cuamba raised his hand to step in for the veteran. Another member of last year's DWCS graduating class, Oki has won eight straight heading into his promotional debut, with three of the last four coming in the first round.

Loma Lookboonmee vs Bruna Brasil

Loma Lookboonmee and Bruna Brasil share the Octagon in what should be an interesting strawweight matchup in Las Vegas this weekend.

Lookboonmee is 5-2 in the UFC, with consecutive wins over Denise Gomes and Elise Reed and victories in four of her last five. Brasil dropped her debut to Gomes in April, but rebounded with a unanimous decision victory over Shauna Bannon in July to move to 9-3-1 overall.

Devin Clark vs Marcin Prachnio

It’s a meeting between veteran light heavyweights as Devin Clark and Marcin Prachnio face off in this one.

The 33-year-old Clark has been unable to find consistency in the UFC cage, never winning or losing more than two consecutive contests over his 16-fight run with the promotion. Prachnio dropped three straight to begin his UFC tenure, then four three of four before suffering a third-round submission loss to emerging prospect Vitor Petrino last time out.

Max Griffin vs Jeremiah Wells

Recent TUF finalist Zac Pauga takes on Bogdan Guskov in this light heavyweight fixture.

Unbeaten coming into the UFC, Pauga has gone 1-2 through his first three fights, dropping the finale at heavyweight to Mohammed Usman before splitting dropping back down to his natural weight class, beating Jordan Wright, and losing to Modestas Bukauskas. Guskov got a short-notice call-up to the UFC in September, landing on the wrong side of things against divisional mainstay Volkan Oezdemir.

Hyder Amil vs Fernie Garcia

Contender Series graduates Hyder Amil and Fernie Garcia face off in this early preliminary card pairing in the featherweight division.

The 33-year-old Amil won a battle of attrition against Emrah Sonmez early last season to garner a call to the Octagon, and brings an 8-0 record with him into his debut. Garcia steps in on short notice, replacing Melsik Baghdasaryan, looking to register his first UFC victory after landing on the wrong side of the results in his first three trips into the Octagon.

Daniel Marcos vs Aoriqileng

Daniel Marcos begins his sophomore year in the UFC with an intriguing matchup against “The Mongolian Murderer” Aoriqileng on Saturday.

Marcos went 2-0 during his rookie campaign, stopping Saimon Oliveira before edging out Davey Grant on the cards to move to 15-0 overall before various issues scuttled three different matchups towards the end of the year. After an 0-2 start to his UFC career, Aoriqileng has gone 3-1 since moving to bantamweight, most recently out-working Johnny Munoz Jr. in October.