UFC is stateside again, as the APEX Facility in Las Vegas is set to host UCF 255 on Saturday night. The headliner is Deiveson Figueiredo’s defense of his UFC Flyweight belt. The challenger was supposed to be former UFC Bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt, but Garbrandt suffered a torn bicep and had to withdraw. The replacement challenger is Alex Perez, who was shifted from his fight with Brandon Moreno on the card. The co-headliner is a UFC Women’s Flyweight championship bout between the current title holder, Valentina Shevchenko and the challenger, Jennifer Maia.
We have the entire card for you as well as UFC betting thoughts about the key bouts.
UFC 255 Preview: Figueiredo vs Perez
Main Card (Pay Per View)
Deiveson Figueiredo vs Alex Perez (UFC Flyweight Championship)
Valentina Shevchenko vs Jennifer Maia (UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship)
Mike Perry vs Tim Means (Welterweight)
Katlyn Chookagian vs Cynthia Calvillo (Women’s Flyweight)
Mauricio Rua vs Paul Craig (Light Heavyweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
Brandon Moreno vs Brandon Royval (Flyweight)
Joaquin Buckley vs Jordan Wright (Middleweight)
Antonina Shevchenko vs Ariane Lipski (Women’s Flyweight)
Daniel Rodriguez vs Nicolas Dalby (Welterweight)
Early Preliminary Card (ESPN2 / ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Alan Jouban vs Jared Gooden (Welterweight)
Kyle Daukaus vs Dustin Stoltzfus (Middleweight)
Louis Cosce vs Sasha Palatnikov (Welterweight)
Deiveson Figueiredo (19-1, -300) vs Alex Perez (24-5, +250) features a last-minute opportunity for Perez to snag a belt at least one challenge ahead of schedule. Figueiredo actually had to beat Joseph Benavidez twice to win the belt, because he failed to make weight ahead of the first fight. His matchup with Cody Garbrandt was designed to bring some notoriety to the division, but Perez’s substitution makes the fight tactically interesting. Perez had his breakthrough UFC victory over Jose Torres in 2018. Before that, Perez had mostly gained recognition as a grapper and a wrestler, but he used an avalanche of strikes to finish Torres. Perez then lost to Joseph Benavidez but currently rides a three-bout winning streak. He beat Mark De La Rosa and Jordan Espinosa on the mat, but his win over Jussier Formiga came with an eye-popping leg kick stoppage.
Figueiredo has struggled when opponents can use his low-volume striking approach against him and take the fight to the mat. Figueiredo is a decent wrestler, especially from the bottom, but he is more dangerous standing up, which means he should look for a finish here. Perez would need to take the fight to the floor and wear him down to the point where he won’t be able to throw a knockout punch in the later rounds. Figueiredo should work to open up Perez’s defenses in the early rounds, and his precision gives him an excellent chance to do so. Figueiredo should be ready with the right counter when Perez tries to speed the fight up.
Final Prediction:
Figueiredo wins via stoppage
Valentina Shevchenko (19-3, -1400) vs Jennifer Maia (16-1, +925) represents Shevchenko’s latest shot at a flawless fight. Her one nemesis in the promotion has been Amanda Nunes; Shevchenko has almost beaten her twice, but Nunes has been able to exploit Shevchenko’s unwillingness to risk making mistakes by advancing too aggressively. That approach worked for Shevchenko in a demolition of Holly Holm, but Nunes and Shevchenko basically turned into a stalemate. Since then, Shevchenko has dropped down to the new women’s flyweight classification. She won the title quickly, with the only disappointment coming in a title defense against Liz Carmouche. However, she regained the belt and has dealt easily with such challengers as Katlyn Chookagian and Jessica Eye.
Her challenger this time is Jennifer Maia, the former Invicta Fighting Championships flyweight champ. Maia likes to come ahead with strikes and, if that fails, get to the clinch. Chookagian was too fast for Maia, and Carmouche was too strong, but the approach ahs worked against everyone else. In August, she beat Joanne Calderwood with terrific grappling skills, using an armbar to bring things to an early end in the first round. Maia should push forward enough to keep this from turning into a stalemate, but Shevchenko should be able to wear her down.
UFC Betting Odds
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