Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Albazi

The former two-time strawweight champion Namajunas makes her third start of the year, seeking a third consecutive win after posting consecutive unanimous decision victories over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez. She’s rebounded nicely after suffering a broken thumb and decision loss in her divisional debut, and seems locked in on making a serious push towards a championship opportunity in her new surroundings.

Blanchfield’s rise through the flyweight ranks was paused momentarily back in March when the New Jersey native landed on the wrong side of the cards in a main event meeting with Manon Fiorot in Atlantic City. Still just 25 years old, the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt is 6-1 in the UFC and 12-2 overall, and the last time she suffered a setback, she rattled off nine straight wins.

Related: Rose Namajunas Career Highlights

With Valentina Shevchenko returning to the throne at Noche UFC in September and Manon Fiorot seemingly locked in as the No. 1 contender, this feels like a matchup to determine who could be next to face the new two-time champion. It’s also an excellent opportunity to get further reads on where each woman stands at the moment, as Namajunas has the opportunity to show she can out-work another elite contender, while Blanchfield gets a second crack at turning aside an established name in a five-round fight.

Derrick Lewis vs Jhonata Diniz

Big fellas battle it out in the middle of the main card as Derrick Lewis reprises his role as the veteran litmus test in the heavyweight ranks in this matchup with surging Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) graduate Jhonata Diniz.

Fighting out of Franco Kickboxing Pankration in Vancouver, Machado moves down a division after landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in each of his first two UFC appearances at heavyweight. The 30-year-old was always slightly undersized for the heavyweight ranks and will look to get back to the form that produced an 8-1-1 record prior to arriving on the big stage in this one.

Ribeiro registered a first-round knockout win over unbeaten prospect Bruno Lopes last season to earn his contract, but has struggled to replicate that success through his first two appearances under the UFC banner. After getting stopped by Zhang Mingling in his debut, “The Gorilla” dropped a majority decision to Magomed Gadzhiyasulov last time out.

Marc-Andre Barriault vs Dustin Stoltzfus

Marc-Andre Barriault and Dustin Stoltzfus clash in a meeting of middleweights looking to get things moving in the right direction before the end of the year.

Barriault makes his 14th UFC appearance this weekend, entering on a two-fight skid and brandishing a 5-7-1 record inside the Octagon. The French-Canadian dropped a split decision to Chris Curtis at UFC 297 in January and was stopped by Joe Pyfer at UFC 303 in September and looks to get back to the form that produced wins in each of his 2023 starts this weekend.

Just 2-5 in his UFC career, Stoltzfus is almost never in a boring fight, even if the excitement often ends with his catching a loss. Last time out, the DWCS Class of 2020 representative engaged in one of the most entertaining one-round tussles of the year with Brunno Ferreira, who ended the fight with a spinning back elbow that put Stoltzfus on the canvas.

This should be a high energy scrap from the outset between a pair of guys eager to prove they still have plenty to offer in the always competitive middleweight division.

Mike Malott vs Trevin Giles

The main card opens in the welterweight division, as Mike Malott faces off with Trevin Giles.

The preliminary card slate closes in the bantamweight division, as Aiemann Zahabi takes on Pedro Munhoz in what is sure to be a technical banger.

Zahabi enters on the best run of his UFC career, having earned four straight victories, including having bounced Javid Basharat from the ranks of the unbeaten last time out. A longtime member of the bantamweight Top 15, Munhoz arrives in Edmonton on a two-fight skid, having dropped back-to-back decisions to Marlon “Chito” Vera and Kyler Phillips.

Ariane da Silva vs Jasmine Jasudavicius

Ariane da Silva looks to get back into the win column, while Jasmine Jasudavicius aims to keep the good times rolling in this intriguing flyweight pairing.

Brazil’s da Silva earned a trio of wins last year to finally begin building some momentum after an inconsistent start to her UFC career, only to have that run halted by Karine Silva in April. The lone ranked Canadian on the roster, Jasudavicius has earned a pair of wins already in 2024 and victories in four of her last five after handily dealing with short-notice replacement and highly regarded prospect Fatima Kline in July.

Charles Jourdain vs Victor Henry

Jack Shore and Youssef Zalal face off in a fascinating battle of talented featherweight hopefuls stationed on Saturday’s prelims.

“Tank” won his debut in the 145-pound weight class last year in London at UFC 286, but lost his sophomore outing against Joanderson Brito in May at UFC 301 when he suffered a gnarly gash on his shin. Zalal has gone 2-0 with a pair of impressive finishes since returning to the UFC fold earlier this year, following up his March win over Billy Quarantillo with a first-round submission victory over Jarno Errens in August.

Alexandr Romanov vs Rodrigo Nascimento

There is heavyweight action on the preliminary card, as well, this weekend, as Alexandr Romanov takes on Rodrigo Nascimento.

After opening his UFC career with five straight wins, Romanov has gone 1-3 over his last four outings, most recently being submitted by Jailton Almeida at UFC 302 in June. Nascimento touches down in the Alberta fight town after having his three-fight winning streak snapped by Lewis in their main event meeting back in May.

Serhiy Sidey vs Garrett Armfield

Slick boxers Serhiy Sidey and Garrett Armfield meet in a bantamweight matchup that could be an early Fight of the Night candidate.

After earning a contract last season on Dana White’s Contender Series, Sidey debuted in a rematch with his DWCS opponent Ramon Taveras at UFC 297 in January, landing on the wrong side of a split decision verdict in an absolute slobberknocker at Scotiabank Arena. The 28-year-old Armfield earned quality wins in each of his first two bantamweight starts after dropping his short-notice debut up a division, but was submitted last time out by Brady Hiestand in the third round of a back-and-forth battle.

Chad Anheliger vs Cody Gibson

Bantamweights Chad Anheliger and Cody Gibson meet early in the evening in a matchup between two of the more senior members of the 135-pound ranks.

An Alberta native and 20-fight veteran, Anheliger halted a two-fight skid back in March with a strong outing against Charalampos Grigoriou to bring his record even at 2-2 through his first four UFC appearances. Gibson had his best performance of his two tours in the UFC last time out in July when he steamrolled Brian Kelleher.

Jamey-Lyn Horth vs Ivana Petrovic

Flyweights open the show on Saturday, as Jamey-Lyn Horth takes on Ivana Petrovic in the first of four bouts contested at 125 pounds this weekend.

Fighting out of Squamish, British Columbia, Horth returns for the first time since suffering her first professional loss last December in Austin, Texas when she landed on the wrong side of a split decision verdict in her bout with Veronica Hardy. Petrovic rebounded from dropping her promotional debut last July with a third-round submission win over Liang Na in April to move to 1-1 inside the Octagon and 7-1 overall heading into Saturday’s opener.