5 Fighters on the UFC 221 hot seat 

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#1 Yoel Romero

The Soldier Of God

Out of majority of the fighters on this list, Romero won't have to worry about job security when he steps into the octagon on Saturday. However, the American Top Team standout needs to seize this opportunity as he looks to take home the first major championship of his career.

The Cuban born fighter is coming off his first loss in the Octagon, suffering a unanimous decision setback to Robert Whittaker at UFC 213 where he also lost out on capturing the middleweight championship.

With the 185-pound class being one of the deepest in the UFC a second-straight loss would undoubtedly push him further down the rankings. Add in the fact that the Strikeforce veteran turns 41 in April, so losing again would surely diminish another opportunity at a UFC title. Romero was slated to take on former World Series Of Fighting two-division champion David Branch on Feb. 24, however, an injury to Whittaker allowed the charismatic middleweight the opportunity to face Rockhold for the interim title.

Romero has a tough tall task ahead (literally) as his opponent Rockhold stands 6'3 with a 77-inch reach and has only lost twice in the last 10-years.

#2 Tyson Pedro

The Queensland native has his task cut out for himself.

Pedro only has one blemish on his record but he's certainly feeling the pressure heading into this matchup, being one of the few light heavyweight prospects in the division. A native of Queensland - a five-hour plane ride from Perth - Pedro will have the Australian fans on his side when he faces Saparbek Safarov on Saturday.

The 26-year-old is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Ilir Latifi at UFC 215 in September, where he failed to come through as the betting favorite. It was also the first time Pedro went the distance in his six-fight career, which appeared to hinder the Lions High-Performance Centre standout in the cardio department.

He faces Safarov who is also coming off the first setback of his career when he lost via TKO to Gian Villante at UFC Fight Night 102 in Dec. 2016. Pedro boasts four of his six career wins by submission and his 31-year-old opponent has never been forced to tap in his nine-fight career.

With the light heavyweight division rankings wide open at the moment, Pedro has a tremendous opportunity to fast-track himself up the 205-pound ladder.

#3 Damien Brown

'Beatdown' is on a 2-fight losing streak.

Brown will look for his first win since Nov. 2016 when he faces "Maestro" Dong Hyun Kim in a lightweight affair. The 33-year-old Brisbane native is coming off back-to-back losses to Vinc Pichel and Frank Camacho. "Beatdown" will look to avoid three-straight losses for the first time since Aug. 2014.

Despite earning a "Performance Of The Night" bonus in his last contest against Camacho, a third-straight setback for Brown could lead to his exit from the UFC.

Meanwhile, his opponent Kim heads into this contest on a two-fight win streak, including a unanimous decision victory over Brown's countryman Brendan O'Reilly at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale. The 29-year-old has gone 2-1 since dropping down to the 155-pound division in 2016.

#4 Mizuto Hirota

Will moving up a weight class do wonders for the Japenese lightweight?

Despite having just one loss in his last six fights, Hirota is certainly vulnerable heading into his lightweight matchup against Ross Pearson. The Japanese fighter was pulled close to 24-hours before UFC Fight Night 117 featherweight matchup against Charles Rosa due to a failed weight cut.

As we all know missing weight is one of the cardinal sins of being a fighter and combine that with a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski in his last fight, it's a recipe for disaster. The 36-year-old moves back up to the 155-division for the first time since 2012 and has only competed twice since 2016.

#5 Ross Pearson

Another loss and 'The Real Deal' could be shown the door.

It's very rare to hold a spot on the UFC roster suffering fo-losses in a row, but Pearson still finds himself with a job despite losing his last four fights. The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 winner squares off with Mizuto Hirota in his first-fight back in Austraila since Mar. 2016.

Interestingly enough, that was the last time Pearson tasted victory as the Alliance MMA product looks to take advantage of an opponent moving up to the lightweight division for the first time in six years.

The 33-year-old is coming off the third-TKO loss of his career when Daniel Hooker finished him in the second-round back at UFC Fight Night 110 in June. Suffering a career-high fifth loss in a row would undoubtedly force the UFC to hand Pearson his pink slip.