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Prado made his promotional debut on short notice in February, venturing from his native Argentina to Perth, Australia, to step in with Aussie veteran Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 284. While he came out on the unhappy side of a unanimous decision verdict, he gave a solid accounting for himself, having some quality moments while gaining 15 minutes of experience inside the Octagon with a seasoned UFC lightweight.

This week, Prado makes his second appearance, taking on Ottman Azaitar in a main card pairing in the lightweight division.

Now 11-1 in his career, Prado just turned 21 last month, and the fact that he turned a last-minute replacement fight into 15 minutes of cage time with a steady hand is a major positive, and something that likely served him well throughout this camp. He closed out his preparations by venturing to Miami to train under Asim Zaidi at The Goat Shed, which should help tighten things up a little more and get him working with higher level professionals than he has in the past, and as he continues to gain experience and sharpen his technique, Prado could develop into an interesting fighter to track going forward.

But all of that stuff is a long way off right now — again, he just turned 21 — so the more immediate touchpoint is this weekend’s fight with Azaitar.

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The 33-year-veteran returns for the first time since getting bounced from the ranks of the unbeaten by Matt Frevola last November at Madison Square Garden. Prior to that, the veteran registered stoppage wins over Teemu Packalen and Khama Worthy, building his record to 13-0 before running into “The SteamRolla” at UFC 281.

This is good test for Prado — a pairing with a fellow finisher who is happy to stride to the center, throw hands, and see who lands first. The Argentine has good size for the division, a five-inch reach advantage here, and should be the quicker, more dynamic of the two.

If he can collect his first UFC victory on Saturday, he’ll solidify his place in the division and establish himself as someone to pay attention to in greater detail over the coming years.

Nazim Sadykhov

After punching his ticket to the UFC by landing a nasty right hook on Ahmad Suhail Hassanzada last fall on Dana White’s Contender Series, Sadykhov rolled into his UFC debut earlier this year and collected a third-round stoppage win over Evan Elder.

While the fight — which came by way of doctor’s stoppage due to a bad cut over Elder’s eye — wasn’t as clean and precise as Sadykhov would have liked (note: he told me this; story coming soon) it was a strong effort in his first trip into the Octagon and pushed his winning streak to eight, and his run of finishes to five straight fights.

Training out of Longo and Weidman MMA in Long Island, the 29-year-old lightweight is surrounded by elite talent that forces him to either step his game up in the gym or get swept under every day, and so far, Sadykhov has been able to remain afloat. Working with the likes of Frevola, Merab Dvalishvili, and Aljamain Sterling not only elevates your game, but shows you the work that is required to reach the Top 15, Top 5, and the top of the mountain in Sterling’s case.

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Saturday night, Sadykhov takes a solid step up in competition as he jumps in with Terrance McKinney in a preliminary card fight that carries a lot of explosive potential. The highly regarded McKinney is coming off a second-round knockout loss to Ismael Bonfim earlier this year in Rio de Janeiro and looking to get things moving in right direction again, plus he knocked out Frevola in seven seconds in his promotional debut, which should serve as a little additional spark for Sadykhov this weekend.

The confident striker from Azerbaijan has gone to the cards only once in his career and consistently handled business since losing his professional debut. Between his skills and abilities and the influence of those around him, there are plenty of reasons to be intrigued by the potential Sadykhov carries with him into the Octagon this weekend, and if the “Black Wolf” continues racing forward, he could position himself as the next member of the long-time standout crew to make a push for a place in the rankings.

Melquizael Costa

The 26-year-old Costa is the third member of this lightweight triumvirate making the walk to the Octagon for the second time this weekend, where he’ll step in opposite Austin Lingo on the prelims.

Like Prado, Costa made his promotional debut on short notice on a pay-per-view, tagging in for Guram Kutateladze opposite Thiago Moises at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro in January. After holding his own and having some moments in the opening stanza, the vastly more experienced Moises was able to find his way to the back and collect the submission in the second round, but the last-minute effort put him on everyone’s radar.

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He’s been training with and traveling with the Chute Boxe Joao Emilio squad, most recently appearing in the corner of surging featherweight Joanderson Brito a couple weekends back at the APEX, and offers a good mix of size and spirit as he readies to compete on the UFC stage for a second time.

This weekend, he slides into a more reasonable pairing with Lingo, a Fortis MMA representative who thrived on the regional scene under the LFA banner, but has gone 2-2 in the UFC thus far, with decision wins over Jacob Kilburn and Luis Saldana bookended by setbacks against Youssef Zalal and Nate Landwehr.

Costa showed positive flashes in his fight with Moises, and if he can build on those now that the jitters are out of the way and he’s had a full training camp to prepare for Lingo, he will stamp himself as a genuine person of interest going forward in the 155-pound weight class.