After a solid return to Canada last weekend, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, for a 12-fight card. In UFC Vegas 75’s main event, two top four-ranked Middleweight contenders throwdown as Marvin Vettori (No. 3) battles Jared Cannonier (No. 4). While UFC Vegas 75 doesn’t have many notable names, it is loaded with fun fights and up-and-coming fighters.
So, before it goes down on ESPN/ESPN+, let’s check out some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of showtime …
Back-to-Back-to-Back Main Events
Cannonier fights in his third straight main event at UFC Vegas 75. The run started at UFC 276 when he fought Israel Adesanya in a stinker, and then he followed that up with a headliner against Sean Strickland.
Main Event Records
Between “The Killa Gorilla” and “The Italian Dream,” they have fought in eight main events (four each). Here are their records in those fights:
Vettori (3-1): He beat Jack Hermansson, Kevin Holland and Paulo Costa but lost to Adesanya.
Cannonier (3-1): He defeated Hermansson, Kelvin Gastelum and Strickland, but lost to Adesanya.
Pointless Main Event?
Obviously, competing in a UFC main event is always a big deal, but looking forward, the fight between Vettori and Cannonier seems meaningless. Both guys are in an odd position where they are ranked very high in the division and have beaten many of the guys beneath them; however, they both lost to the champion in uncompetitive fights.
For Vettori, he has lost to Adesanya twice, and a third crack seems impossible at the moment. Cannonier lost to Adesanya last July in an uneventful fight that saw him get picked apart for five rounds.
So, as long as “Stylebender” remains champion, they will fight fellow contenders, hoping he gets beat.
Hey Arman, Who TF Are You Fighting?
If you knew who Joaquim Silva was before he got booked against Arman Tsarukyan, congrats! You get an award.
Silva has been in UFC since 2015, but has only had eight fights in the organization, fighting just once per year. Oh, and he’s never sniffed the Top 15 Lightweight rankings. The Brazilian is fighting Tsarukyan, who is the boogeyman of the division and has a chance to snatch the No. 8 ranking.
Ducked
One of the reasons Tsarukyan has to fight Silva in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 75 is that the rest of the division apparently does not want to fight him. At UFC Vegas 75 media day, Tsarukyan listed a few names to MMA Mania.com that turned down fights with him. The Lightweights that allegedly turned down the No. 8 fighter were: Dan Hooker, Grant Dawson, Drew Dober, and Bobby Green.
If true, it is understandable why no one wants to fight him. He is 6-2 in the UFC, only losing to current champion Islam Makhachev and Mateusz Gamrot, which many people believe he won.
Welcome to America, Christian Leroy Duncan
Christian Leroy Duncan fights in America for the first time in his career. The British fighter has 31 fights under his belt, including amateur fights, and has fought all over the world except The United States of America. He gets the fight capital of the world for his first USA fight.
He is coming off a first-round injury TKO win at UFC 286, in which Dusko Todorovic hurt his knee less than two minutes into the fight. “CLD” holds a 88% finish rate, with six of his professional wins coming by way of knockout.
Ducan faces Armen Petrosyan.
Co-Main to Curtain Jerker
Light Heavyweight Zac Pauga opens UFC Vegas 75 this Saturday against Modestas Bukauskas. It is kind of an eyebrow-raising placement especially because Pauga was the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Blanchfield. The reason behind the fall is that his last fight was very boring and he wasn’t able to finish Jordan Wright, who had never been past the second round.
Banger Of The Week
There are a few fights this weekend that could qualify for MMA Mania’s banger of the week, but ultimately the answer is Manuel Torres vs. Nikolas Motta.
Torres holds a 92% finish rate with all of his finishes coming in the first round – six by knockout and six by submission.
Motta holds a 69% finish rate with all of his finishes coming by knockout with all but one coming in the first round.
The fight is pure violence and will end with someone going to sleep.
Finally Back At Bantamweight
After two fights at Featherweight, Dan Argueta returns to the Bantamweight division. If you didn’t know, Argueta cuts a TON of weight and needs the full 8 weeks to get down. At 135, Argueta could be a real player because of his power, endurance, and his very strong wrestling.
Argueta faces another very strong wrestler, Ronnie Lawerence at UFC Vegas 75.
Welcome Back, Denys
Denys Bondar has been out of action since suffering a nasty elbow injury at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Strickland in February 2022 (check it out). He was supposed to return against Ode Osbourne in February 2023 but was forced to pull out. Bondar faces Carlos Hernandez on the UFC Vegas 75 “Prelims.”
Looking For A UFC Win
There are four fighters on UFC Vegas 75 looking for their first UFC win.
- Denys Bondar
- Alessandro Costa
- Tereza Bledá
- Gabriella Fernandes
Winners And Losers
Fifteen fighters are coming off wins, while nine fighters are coming off losses.
Multi-Divisions
Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:
- One Light Heavyweight fight
- Two Middleweight fights
- One Welterweight fight
- Two Lightweight fights
- One Featherweight fight
- Two Bantamweight fights
- Two men’s Flyweight fights
- One women’s Flyweight fight
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 75 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN/ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 75: “Vettori vs. Cannonier” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
