UFC action to close one year and open the next has come and gone and it’s time to get back in the swing of things with a solid slate of action at the UFC APEX this weekend to open the 2025 campaign. Headlined by a critical rematch in the strawweight division and featuring the debuts of several promising recent Dana White’s Contender Series grads, Saturday’s fight card promises to be a nice little foray back into the Octagon that gets everyone excited for what’s ahead… and I don’t just mean next week’s stellar pay-per-view.

Currently sitting at No. 6 in the rankings, Dern enters 2025 off a win over Loopy Godinez in Abu Dhabi at the start of August but is also at a bit of a crossroads in terms of where she fits in the division. Historically, she’s beaten those positioned behind her in the divisional hierarchy but struggled to get by those in front of her, and if the multiple-time Brazilian jiu jitsu world champion is ever going to make a real push to challenge for championship gold, that trend has to change and this has to be the year where that starts to happen. One of only two fighters currently ranked in two weight classes, Ribas returns to the 115-pound division after dropping her one and only bout of 2024, a flyweight main event opposite Rose Namajunas, last March. While she’s split her time between the two divisions, Ribas has generally thrived at strawweight, posting a 5-1 record, while posting a 2-3 record in five fights at flyweight.

Ribas won the first meeting between the two more than five years ago in Tampa, collecting a clean sweep of the scorecards. Each has certainly grown and improved in the subsequent years, but it will be interesting to see if those developments create a different dynamic between the two inside the Octagon or if things play out along similar lines, resulting in a similar outcome. Recent DWCS graduates Ernesta Kareckaite and Nicolle Caliari share the Octagon in this intriguing flyweight pairing on Saturday’s prelims. Kareckaite earned a split decision win over Carli Judice to land her place on the UFC roster, but stumbled out of the gate, getting too far behind against Dione Barbosa in her promotional debut last May to be able to rally back. Caliari shone this past season on the annual talent-search series, submitting Canadian veteran Corinne Laframboise with a belly-down armbar to establish herself as one to watch heading into her debut.

It’s unbeaten versus once bested in this light heavyweight meeting of DWCS grads between Magomed Gadzhiyasulov and Bruno Lopes. A perfect 9-0 to start his career, Gadzhiyasulov dominated Jose Medina to earn his contract, then claimed a majority decision win over Brendson Ribeiro in his maiden voyage into the Octagon in June. Lopes lost to Ribeiro in a stunning upset in his first DWCS appearance but returned last season and finished Mikheil Sazhiniani with body shots in the second round to move to 13-1 overall and earn the chance to compete on the biggest stage in the sport. DWCS grads Joe Solecki and Nurullo Aliev face off in what should be a grappling-heavy affair on Saturday's prelims. Solecki tags in for Yanal Ashmouz, looking to snap a two-fight skid. Last time out, the North Carolina-based athlete dropped a unanimous decision to Grant Dawson. Aliev returns for the first time since earning a majority decision win in his promotional debut against Rafael Alves all the way back in February 2023, and will look to run his unbeaten streak to 10 to start his career. Don't miss a moment of UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Ribas 2, live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 11, 2025. Prelims start at 4pm ET/1pm PT, while the main card kicks off live on ESPN+ at 7pm ET/4pm PT.