The premier promotion in MMA fighting is back in Las Vegas as the UFC Apex facility will host UFC Fight Night 241 on Saturday night. Edson Barboza will square off with Lerone Murphy in a featherweight bout that will headline the night’s action. The co-main event was supposed to feature Hailey Cowan and Tamires Vidal in a women’s bantamweight tilt that had been rescheduled from March due to Vidal’s undisclosed medical reasons. Vidal is back, but Cowan suffered a broken leg, so that fight has been moved to the preliminary card, and Melissa Gatto has taken Cowan’s place. The new co-main event is a welterweight fight featuring Carlston Harris and Khaos Williams. Read on to see the complete card as well as our online betting predictions for several of the UFC Fight Night Betting Fights.
UFC Fight Night Betting Breakdown: Barboza vs Murphy Preview | MMA Event
Edson Barboza +124 vs Lerone Murphy -148
Barboza (24-11, 18-11) vs Murphy (13-0-1, 5-0-1) is the latest step in a venerable career for Barboza, who entered the promotion back in 2010. From the beginning, Barboza was known as one of UFC’s most violent kickers ever. He won his first four fights in the promotion, finishing that streak with a wheel kick KO of Terry Etim that is still an all-time UFC highlight. That streak would not reach five, though, as Jamie Varner upset him, using a strategy that has worked well against Barboza ever since. Varner came out to start the fight with speed and energy, pressuring Barboza into moving backwards, taking his effectiveness away. Since then, fighters who have given Barboza enough space to work have suffered, while those who deliver pressure from the beginning have benefited as Barboza focuses on avoiding danger instead of causing it. However, that has been easier said than done; in 2018, Dan Hooker thought he would beat Barboza by bringing pressure, but he didn’t move fast enough, and Barboza brought enough big bombs to finish things early. Barboza dropped down to featherweight four years ago, and his strengths and weaknesses have followed him. His athleticism is impressive given that he is in his late 30s and still employs a cardio-heavy style and is fighting a weight class below where he entered UFC. He took ugly losses against Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell, but then 2023 was a better year. Billy Quarantillo tried the pressure approach but got knocked out by a knee. Sodiq Yusuff spent his whole cardio gas tank in the first round of his fight with Barboza, and led on points, but after that his stamina was gone, and Barboza easily stacked up enough points to win.
Murphy came into the UFC as a top prospect from the UK. His 2019 debut was a last-minute arrangement against Zubaira Tukhugov, a tough talent who represented a major upgrade from the regional opponents that Murphy had been beating easily. Tukhugov was way ahead on the cards after the first round, but then Murphy clawed back to earn a draw, and since then he has maintained that undefeated pro record. A pattern has emerged, though – poor starts to fights, followed by turning things around and either finishing the opponent or winning on the cards. Barboza is his toughest opponent so far, so it will be interesting to see whether Murphy can up his game enough to get this win. Barboza has some apparent weaknesses which Murphy can leverage, and he should be able to adjust to Barboza fast enough to start bringing pressure.
UFC Fight Night Pick: Murphy wins via decision
Kalinn “Khaos” Williams -130 vs Carlston Harris +110
Williams (14-3, 5-2) vs Harris (19-5, 4-1) brings two fighters with decently high ceilings but also some cracks in their games. Williams got off to a huge start in UFC, knocking out Alex Morono in just 27 seconds in his promotional debut. His next fight only lasted three seconds longer as he delivered a violent KO of Abdul Razak Alhassan. Since then, opponents have figured out how to avoid his big bombs. He can still demolish opponents that are careless, but when his opponents show caution, he also drops back as well, getting almost too patient. Williams will also get involved on the ground, but his clinch game is not very good, at least not yet.
Harris can be disorderly at times, but overall he brings sharp focus to the Octagon. Sometimes he tries to deliver the big bombs, but his aim and approach are on the wild side. At other times he likes to try and get his opponents down on the ground. His last two fights, both wins, showed that there are still questions for him to answer. He beat Jared Gooden on the cards in a mostly listless affair, and then he submitted Jeremiah Wells in the third round, but before he maneuvered into that win, Wells was way ahead on the cards thanks to strong wrestling. I can see Williams settling into a slow match that features occasional strikes from range, and I could also see things get to the ground in a hurry, where Harris would have the edge. Harris doesn’t really have it in him to fight safely enough to stay away from danger, though.
UFC Fight Night Pick: Williams wins via knockout
Themba Gorimbo -135 vs Ramiz Brahimaj +114
Themba Gorimbo (12-4, 2-1) vs Ramiz Brahimaj (10-4, 2-2) shows us a fighter possibly on the rise in Gorimbo. His debut went poorly as his aggression and pace were fine, but the skills weren’t quite at UFC level yet. Since then, though, he has picked up two wins. His power and physicality are building, as we saw in a wrestling-heavy win over Takashi Sato and a violent knockout of Pete Rodriguez in his most recent fight in February.
Brahimaj represents an interesting test; he joined UFC during the COVID-19 pandemic and has built his wrestling skills to the point where he has put together a four-fight winning streak. His striking game isn’t a liability, but it’s not as strong as his ground game. If he has a clear edge on the ground, he can generally deliver a fast submission, but if he gets caught upright, it’s just survival mode for him. He has had several injuries that have kept him out of the Octagon for almost 2 ½ years, and this is his return. Will there be too much rust?
UFC Fight Night Pick: Gorimbo wins via knockout
Adrian Yanez -360 vs Vinicius Salvador +285
Yanez (16-5, 5-2) vs Salvador (14-6, 0-2) is Yanez’s shot at turning things around after a tough 2023. In 2020, Yanez got a knockout win in just 39 seconds on Dana White’s Contender Series, and he started his UFC journey with five wins in a row, four coming by knockout. In April 2023, he got a tougher foe in Rob Font, and that streak came to an end, as Font delivered enough big bombs to knock Yanez out. He also lost to Jonathan Martinez, who used kicks to Yanez’s legs to slow him down in what was a one-sided affair.
Salvador won one of the most entertaining fights in the 2022 season of Dana White’s Contender Series. His offense has a lot of power but lacks efficiency, but with his athleticism, he can catch some opponents napping. However, since he’s come to UFC, both Victor Altamirano and C.J. Vergara have outworked him on the cards, and now he has to go up a weight class since he’s had a hard time cutting. Yanez tends to leave himself open to big bombs, but it’s not clear that Salvador has the power to knock people out at bantamweight.
UFC Fight Night Pick: Yanez wins via knockout
UFC Fight Night Betting Main Card at ESPN+
- Edson Barboza vs Lerone Murphy (Featherweight)
- Khaos Williams vs Carlston Harris (Welterweight)
- Themba Gorimbo vs Ramiz Brahimaj (Welterweight)
- Adrian Yanez vs Vinicius Salvador (Bantamweight)
- Luana Pinheiro vs Angela Hill (Women’s Strawweight)
UFC Fight Night Betting Preliminary Card at ESPN+
- Oumar Sy vs Tuco Tokkos (Light Heavyweight)
- Victor Martinez vs Tom Nolan (Lightweight)
- Tamires Vidal vs Melissa Gatto (Women’s Bantamweight)
- Abus Magomedov vs Warlley Alves (Middleweight)
- Piera Rodriguez vs Ariane Carnelossi (Women’s Strawweight)
- Alateng Heili vs Kleydson Rodrigues (Flyweight)
- Vanessa Demopoulos vs Emily Ducote (Women’s Strawweight)
We've got an ELECTRIC main event for you this Saturday! ⚡️@EdsonBarbozaJr vs @LeroneMurphy
— UFC (@ufc) May 16, 2024
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