Jared Cannonier and Gregory Rodrigues meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night 251. The middleweight bout takes place Saturday, Feb. 15, at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Cannonier (17-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) enters this fight looking to end a two-fight skid. After coming up short in a title challenge against Israel Adesanya at UFC 276, Cannonier rebounded with back-to-back decision wins over Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori. However, 2024 was not kind to “Killa Gorilla,” as he was finished by Nassourdine Imavov in June and dropped a decision to Caio Borralho in August. Rodrigues (16-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) comes in with the momentum of a three-fight winning streak. After a first-round loss against Brunno Ferreira at UFC 283, “Robocop” finished Denis Tiuliulin and Brad Tavares, followed by a unanimous decision win over Christian Leroy Duncan at UFC 304.

Saturday’s co-main event is like the junior version of the headlining tilt, as featherweight rankings staple Calvin Kattar takes on ascending prospect Youssef Zalal. Kattar returns to action for the first time since UFC 300, seeking to halt a three-fight slide and get back to the form that produced quality wins over Dan Ige and Giga Chikadze. The 36-year-old veteran is in a tricky spot, as one of those three losses was hotly debated and another came by way of injury, but with just one win in the last four years and five fights, the time is now for Kattar to affirm his position in the pecking order or be overtaken by the wave of emerging talent rising through the ranks. There may not be an up-and-coming fighter in the division with more momentum and greater upside than Zalal, who returned to the UFC on short-notice last March and finished the year with three consecutive stoppage wins. The Factory X man has now won six straight overall (all by stoppage) since the end of his first run on the roster, and profiles as an ultra-dangerous dark horse in the 145-pound weight class.

It’s a clash of graduates from Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) as Edmen Shahbazyan and Dylan Budka face off in the second of Saturday’s three main card middleweight pairings. The 27-year-old Shahbazyan remains a consistently inconsistent fighter heading into his 12th appearance inside the Octagon, having alternated wins and losses over his last four. He’s 2-5 since his blistering 4-0 start, flashes the promise that made him a hot commodity earlier in his career in stoppage wins over Dalcha Lungiambula and A.J. Dobson, but strugged to keep up against Anthony Hernandez and Gerald Meerschaert. Two members of the DWCS Class of ’22 face off here, as Ismael Bonfim and Nazim Sadykhov share the Octagon on Saturday evening in Las Vegas. The elder of the Bonfim Brothers has gone 2-1 in his first three UFC appearances, with a stoppage loss to Benoit Saint-Denis sandwiched between his debut second-round finish of Terrance McKinney and his unanimous decision nod over Vinc Pichel last May at UFC 301. Now 20-4 overall, Bonfim is surely looking to use this year as an opportunity to propel himself forward in the division, and a win over Sadykhov would be a good place to start.

A member of the DWCS Class of ’23, Budka’s first year on the UFC roster was one he’d like to forget, as the 25-year-old dropped consecutive contests against Cesar Almeida and Andre Petroski, with the added sting of having missed weight for the second of those bouts. He showed promise on the regional circuit, beating fellow DWCS alum Wes Schultz and battling Azamat Bekoev to a split decision, so it will be interesting to see if “The Mindless Hulk” can turn things around for himself here. With all the action taking place in the 185-pound weight class this month and the general shifting of the landscape that has been happening in the past couple of years, this is a tremendous opportunity for either one of these men to march into the Octagon, put forth a memorable performance, and kick off their year by taking a meaningful step forward in the division.

Julia Avila and Jacqueline Cavalcanti square off in a compelling bantamweight clash that opens the show on Saturday in Las Vegas. Stationed at No. 12 in the divisional ranks, Avila returns for the first time since suffering a submission loss to Miesha Tate at the end of 2023, aiming to secure her first victory since finishing Julija Stoliarenko in the summer of 2021. Cavalcanti, who touches down at the APEX positioned one spot behind her opponent in the rankings, has gone 3-0 to start her UFC tenure, extending her overall winning streak to six while establishing herself as an intriguing name to track in the 135-pound weight class.