Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back after taking a week off to recharge from its hectic schedule to stage UFC Kansas City later TONIGHT (Sat., April 26, 2025) inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Headlining the ESPN+-streamed event will be a Welterweight bout between Ian Machado Garry vs. Carlos Prates, while the co-feature will see Anthony Smith take on Zhang Mingyang in a Light Heavyweight showdown.

Garry suffered the first loss of his professional career in his last outing at the hands of Shavkat Rakhmonov. It’s a tough pill he had to swallow after kicking off his combat path in mixed martial arts (MMA) with 15 straights wins as a professional, which was inching him closer to a Top 5 ranking and perhaps title fight consideration. With every setback, however, comes the opportunity to learn and grow ... and that’s just what Garry has to do here as he goes up against a fast-rising sensation who is looking to climb the rankings sooner rather than later. Indeed, Prates burst onto the mainstream scene with a knockout win over Mitch Ramirez on Contender Series, which he parlayed into a contract with UFC. Since then, Prates has not taken his foot off the gas, securing four consecutive (technical) knockout victories. Now, “The Nightmare” is out to score the biggest win of his UFC career. What makes this fight interesting is that both men love to strike, and their choice is always to keep the fight on the feet for as long as possible. Sure, Garry hasn’t won a fight via knockout in two years, but he does have seven victories in that fashion with only one submission. For Prates, meanwhile, getting knockout finishes is the norm with 16 of 21 earned in that manner. Will Garry let it all hang out against him in this fight? Is it the smartest strategy? There’s no telling, but Garry does not back down from a slugfest — his most recent win saw him neutralize Michael Page, a man known for his flashy striking attack. Prates is younger and perhaps faster than “Venom” at this stage of their careers, which will be evident for Garry come fight night.

Jaqueline Amorim is currently on a three-fight win streak and is 3-1 under UFC’s banner, while her opponent, Polyana Viana, is on a two-fight skid and 1-3 in her last four. They are literally on opposite trajectories and UFC matchmakers decided it was a good idea to book them against each other. The original main event was supposed to feature Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree before “Sweet Dreams” was forced out with a leg injury and the fight was eventually shipped off to UFC Baku, paving the way for the promotion to book Garry vs. Prates as the new headliner. The other injury reported for the event was attached to Mitch Ramirez, who suffered an undisclosed health setback that forced him to withdraw from a fight against Ahmad Sohail Hassanzada, who was pegged to fight Evan Elder.