Fighters On The Rise | UFC Edmonton

As a mixed martial artist, Diniz is still raw and developing, but when it comes to the striking arts, he’s skilled and experienced, offering a diverse array of attacks honed during his years as a kickboxer. He’s shown in his first two UFC outings that he’s capable of mixing up his attacks and his levels, utilizing more kicks than most of his heavyweight counterparts, while targeting all three levels with regularity.

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Saturday night marks a massive step up for Diniz, who goes from facing a winless Lane (he’s since earned his first UFC victory) and a fellow raw prospect in Williams to the man with the most knockout wins in UFC history.

Though he’s challenged for both the undisputed and interim heavyweight titles over the course of his career, this is really the area where the Houston native has thrived: standing in against solid, but untested, talents looking to take a big step forward at his expense. In most instances, Lewis has thwarted those advances, as he did in May when he dispatched Rodrigo Nascimento, but there is still a little Jekyll and Hyde to “The Black Beast” at times, and which one turns up in Edmonton will be key to determining how things shake out on Saturday night.

The Montreal native has never been in a hurry to chase opportunities, opting instead to pick his spots, hone his craft, and spend a great deal of time coaching, but he’s in the midst of an outstanding run of form right now and is clearly focused on striking while the iron is hot. This weekend’s pairing with Munhoz represents another step up in competition and another chance for the younger Zahabi to shine, while potentially taking yet another step forward in the ultra-competitive bantamweight ranks.

Zahabi's Athlete Page

Although he’s fallen out of the Top 15, Munhoz remains one of the most respected and experienced veterans in the weight class — someone that has logged 21 appearances under the UFC banner, the vast majority of which have come against ranked opposition or emerging names looking to use him as a steppingstone to greater opportunities. He’s faced a handful of former champions (four to be exact), plus a bevy of contenders alike, and while it hasn’t always worked out in his favor, to a man they’ll tell you that Munhoz is a tough out that made them work for every inch of ground they gained inside the Octagon.

Zahabi is technical and crafty — smooth with his hands, good in the clinch, and slick on the ground if the situation arises — and he’s looked so much more confident and comfortable in the Octagon during the course of his winning streak than he did at the outset of his UFC run, when it felt like he was fighting to prove he belonged.

He’s clearly more than deserving of a spot on the roster, and if he can push his winning streak to five with a win over Munhoz this weekend, he could be looking at a date with a Top 15 opponent next time out.

Youssef Zalal

Two fights into his second tour of duty with the UFC, Zalal looks like the fully actualized version of the intriguing prospect that turned up the first time around.

When he first turned up in the UFC, Zalal was a solid prospect that was making a name for himself under the LFA banner, having dropped a couple decisions to slightly more experienced opponents while showing flashes of real upside. He hit the ground running, earning three straight decision wins in the span of seven months, but had his momentum halted by a short-notice replacement opponent named Ilia Topuria, which kicked off a four-fight stretch without a win that resulted in the Factory X Muay Thai representative getting bounced from the promotion.

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Three first-round finishes put him back on the UFC radar, and since returning to the fold, he’s been dynamite in the Octagon, first submitting Billy Quarantillo, and then totally dominating and doing the same to Jarno Errens in August, where he picked up a Performance of the Night bonus for his efforts, as well.

Zalal has excellent length and a quality blend of weapons for the division, but what has changed is that he’s deploying them with confidence and consideration now, rather than just going out there and trying to figure things out on the fly. He’s picking his spots well, attacking when there are openings, and not rushing into things, which has resulted in a pair of dynamic finishes and a chance to make some real waves in the division now ruled by the first man to beat him in the UFC. 

Saturday, he gets a serious test in the form of Jack Shore, the former Cage Warriors bantamweight champ who is looking to rebound after his last fight with Joanderson Brito was halted by the doctors. “Tank” is a tremendous grappler and gritty as can be, making this a real statement opportunity for Zalal in Edmonton.

This feels like the fight where we really find out if “The Moroccan Devil” is ready to make a serious push in the featherweight division, as Shore is a notoriously tough out with the skills to potentially stifle Zalal’s best offensive weapons.

Beating “Billy Q” will still register as the more noteworthy win for most, but the Welsh standout is the most complete fighter he’s faced since his return, and besting him would carry a great deal of weight, and show that Zalal is someone to keep very close tabs on in the 145-pound weight class heading into 2025 and beyond.