The UFC is back at the Apex for the first time in a month with a women’s strawweight main event, when one-time title challenger Amanda Lemos faces streaking Virna Jandiroba in an all-Brazil five-rounder set for Saturday in Las Vegas.
Lemos laid an egg in her lone championship opportunity 11 months ago, when she was thoroughly outclassed on the scorecards by current champ Weili Zhang at UFC 292. This is the first main event for Lemos since her 2022 technical knockout victory over Mariana Rodriguez.
The 37-year-old bounced back from her loss to Zhang with a win over Mackenzie Dern in February that earned the pair a Fight of the Night bonus at UFC 298.
Jandiroba has never been in a UFC main event and has not headlined a fight card since her days in the Invicta FC cage, when she defended her strawweight title with a performance of the night-winning submission of Janaisa Morandin in 2018.
Coming off three consecutive unanimous decision victories over Angela Hill, Rodriguez and Loopy Godinez, Jandiroba can inch closer to a title shot at 115 pounds with a fourth consecutive victory.
Lemos is the No. 3-ranked contender at strawweight entering the event, while Jandiroba is two spots behind at No. 5, despite being her the slight betting favourite.
A featherweight bout between Dan Ige and Chepe Mariscal had been set to take place at the UFC Apex event, however Ige withdrew a few weeks ago, when he decided to take a short notice UFC 303 co-main event bout with Diego Lopes. Mariscal was rebooked against Damon Jackson and that one was set for the organization’s Aug. 10 Fight Night event.
UNDERCARD OVERVIEW
Tavares to set MW record, win or lose: The co-main event will feature Brad Tavares facing Jun Yong Park in what will be a record-setting outing, regardless of the result. Tavares is competing in the 25th middleweight bout of his UFC career, which will see him pass Michael Bisping for most total Octagon appearances at 185 pounds in UFC history. Tavares, 36, is 15-9 in the UFC since debuting in 2010 but has dropped three of his past four and was knocked out by Gregory Rodrigues in February. Park knows what that’s like because he was knocked out by Rodrigues in 2021. He rebounded with four consecutive wins but dropped a split decision to Andre Muniz in December.
Tavares, one of five middleweights in UFC history with more than 1,000 significant strikes landed, can also tie Bisping for most middleweight wins, with 16, if he gets his hand raised. He will also leapfrog Bisping for most total fight time at 185 pounds if his scrap with Park lasts at least 7:41 (that would be the 2:41 mark of Round 2). Tavares has spent 5:07:35 competing inside the UFC cage; Bisping has held the record of 5:15:15 since 2017.
South Korean contingent: In addition to Park being in the co-main event, Saturday’s card features three more of South Korea’s top fighters — all of whom are scheduled to compete at featherweight.
Seung Woo Choi faces Steve Garcia in the middle of the main card. Both fighters have knockout power as the aggressor, which makes for an interesting style clash.
Jeong Yeong Lee is 11-1 and has avenged his lone pro loss. He is looking to improve to 3-0 in the UFC when he faces Hyder Amil in the featured preliminary bout. Dana White has dubbed this one his “if you don’t know, now you know” matchups to watch out for on Saturday’s prelims.
The popular Doo Ho Choi returns against Bill Algeo in the opening matchup of the main card. Choi, “The Korean Superboy,” returned from a three-year absence 17 months ago but settled for a majority draw against Kyle Nelson after being deducted a point during the fight. Choi began his UFC career 3-0 and at one point earned a performance bonus in five consecutive outings, including for his UFC Hall of Fame-worthy bout with Cub Swanson that was inducted in 2022. Choi is going up against Bill Algeo, who also fought Nelson in his most recent appearance; Algeo lost by technical knockout in March.
Durden the only ranked fighter on undercard: Cody Durden, the No. 14-ranked flyweight contender on the men’s side, is the only other ranked fighter scheduled to compete on Saturday, outside of the two main event competitors, when he faces Bruno Gustavo da Silva on the main card. Durden is coming off a submission loss to Tagir Ulanbekov in December and aiming to maintain his place in the rankings by getting back in the win column. Da Silva is on quite the hot streak, putting away each of his past three opponents with performance of the night-winning finishes.
Below is a look at the projected bout order for UFC Fight Night: Lemos vs. Jandiroba:
MAIN CARD
— Amanda Lemos vs. Virna Jandiroba
— Brad Tavares vs. Park Jun Yong
— Steve Garcia vs. Choi Seung Woo
— Kurt Holobaugh vs. Kaynan Kruschewsky
— Cody Durden vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva
— Choi Doo Ho vs. Bill Algeo
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Lee Jeong Yeong vs. Hyder Amil
— Brian Kelleher vs. Cody Gibson
— Miranda Maverick vs. Dione Barbosa
— Loik Radzhabov vs. Trey Ogden
— Luana Carolina vs. Lucie Pudilova
— Mohammed Usman vs. Thomas Petersen