UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs Dolidze 2, live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 15, 2025. Prelims start at 4pm ET/1pm PT, while the main card kicks off live on ESPN+ at 7pm ET/4pm PT.ght matchups on the calendar in the coming months, beginning with this one, and a dominant showing on either side could establish the victor as the clubhouse leader in the chase for the next championship opportunity.

Heavyweights close out the prelims as DWCS grads Waldo Cortes Acosta and Ryan Spann go head-to-head on Saturday in Las Vegas. Cortes Acosta enters on a three-fight winning streak and has gone 5-1 over his first six UFC appearances to land at No. 12 in the heavyweight rankings. Spann moves up to heavyweight for the first time, hoping to replicate the success of his former teammate Kennedy Nzechukwu while showcasing the skills that produced stoppage wins over Misha Cirkunov, Dominick Reyes, and Ovince Saint Preux in the past.

Brazilian strawweight Stephanie Luciano returns for her sophomore appearance in the Octagon, stepping in against Fortis MMA veteran Sam Hughes. After battling Talita Alencar to a draw in their bout during Season 7 of Dana White’s Contender Series, “Rondinha” earned a victory over her compatriot in the rematch last August to advance to 6-1-1 overall to start her career. Hughes comes into this one off a split decision win over Viktoriia Dudakva in August and has a history of pushing promising newcomers early in their UFC careers. Nurgozhay is a perfect 10-0 in his career, having followed his first-round stoppage win over DWCS alum and former PFL champ Emiliano Sordi with a second-round finish of Bartosz Szewczyk to earn his place on the UFC roster. A member of the DWCS Class of ’23, Ribeiro dropped his first two appearances inside the Octagon to Zhang Mingyanhg and Magomed Gadhziyasulov before registering a split decision victory over Caio Machado last time out.

TUF alum Carlos Vera gets his first full-camp opportunity in the UFC as he welcomes recent Contender Series graduate Josias Musasa to the Octagon for the first time this weekend. A member of Conor McGregor’s prospect crew on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, Vera lost to eventual bantamweight winner Brad Katona in the opening round and dropped a short-notice decision to Rinya Nakamura last year in his promotional debut. Unbeaten in eight professional appearances, the 26-year-old Musasa is raw, but possesses a ton of upside, having won each of his first seven bouts by stoppage. Talented flyweights clash here as Spain’s Daniel Barez takes on unbeaten Brazilian Andre Lima in preliminary card action. Barez collected a unanimous decision win over Victor Altamirano in September after dropping his short-notice debut to Jafel Filho more than a year earlier, moving to 17-6 in the process. “Mascote” earned a trio of wins in 2024, following up his infamous DQ victory over Igor Severino with decision nods over Mitch Raposo and Felipe dos Santos to move to 10-0 overall.

It’s an all-Brazilian affair in the bantamweight division as Josiane Nunes and Priscila Cachoeira go head-to-head on Saturday’s prelims. After winning each of her first three appearances inside the Octagon, the diminutive Nunes enters this one having dropped back-to-back contests against Chelsea Chandler and Jacqueline Cavalcanti. The 36-year-old Cachoeira has also dropped consecutive outings, having been submitted by both Miranda Maverick and Jasmine Jasudavicius in the third round. Duben delivered arguably the biggest upset of Season 8, knocking out Shannon Clark in 73 seconds to move to 6-0 and land herself a place on the UFC roster. Judice impressed enough in her split decision loss to Ernesta Kareckaite in Season 7 to earn a contract, and garnered Fight of the Night honors in her competitive loss to Gabriella Fernandes last time out.

Stephanie Luciano vs Sam Hughes