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Another Saturday of UFC action is nearly upon us and another exciting card is all ready to go. Once again, this week’s event is set for the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, in what is the final event before a full set of fans return at next week’s pay-per-view.
The UFC is set to welcome back a full crowd at UFC 261. A 15,000 strong audience will enjoy live action at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The event will mark the first to be held in front of a full crowd in over a year. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the excitement of fans and fighters alike.
Understandably, fans are looking ahead to the return of a crowd and three title fights at next Saturday’s blockbuster PPV. But the APEX isn’t finished providing us with great matchups just yet and this week’s headliner could be a classic.
UFC Vegas 24: Whittaker vs. Gastelum
Headlining UFC Vegas 24 is an exciting matchup between Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum. The pair are ready for a second go at entering the octagon together for a UFC headliner, after their scheduled main event at the UFC 234 pay-per-view in 2019 was canceled. ‘The Reaper’ was forced to pull out of his title defense on the day of the fight after suffering a hernia.
Although this Saturday's main event was originally between Whittaker and Brazilian Paulo Costa, the new bout is a worthy replacement. It seems right that we finally get to see the two middleweight mainstays meet in the UFC. It might not have the same level of hype it had two years ago, but seeing Whittaker and Gastelum throw hands is long overdue.
A number of other exciting matchups are also included on this weekend’s card. Jeremy Stephens is looking to rejuvenate his career with a move back to lightweight, where he faces Drakkar Klose. Knockout machine Abdul Razak Alhassan looks to rebound from his last fight in a matchup with Jacob Malkoun. And in a colossal heavyweight fight, the unbeaten Alexandr Romanov faces fellow submission specialist Juan Espino.
This card is not one to miss. With that said, here are five names to look out for at UFC Vegas 24.
#5 Tracy Cortez
Tracy Cortez is one of the most promising prospects on the UFC women’s roster. At the age of just 27, her potential is sky high and the story behind her life in MMA is a memorable one.
Cortez began training in the sport after watching her older brother Jose fight against former UFC veteran Drew Fickett in 2008. It was to be Jose’s last fight in the sport, with his retirement following cardiovascular problems and a germ cell cancer diagnosis.
After her brother tragically passed away in 2011, with the help of her family and the likes of Henry Cejudo, Jose’s friend, Cortez pushed through the difficult time and is now making her brother proud with her impressive career inside the cage.
Cortez looks to make it three wins from three in MMA's biggest promotion at UFC Vegas 24.
After impressive unanimous decision wins over Vanessa Melo and Stephanie Eggar in her first two outings to the octagon, Cortez now sits at 8-1 and is close to securing a number next to her name.
Across her current eight-fight winning streak, Cortez has beaten two other highly touted prospects in Erin Blanchfield and Mariya Agapova, the latter of whom she defeated during season 22 of Dana White's Contender Series in 2019.
Tracy Cortez returns to action at UFC Vegas 24, where she'll face Justine Kish in the final fight of the prelims. Keep an eye out for the rising star in this one.
#4 Luis Peña
You don’t see many 6"3" lightweights. Luis Peña has a unique frame for the 155-pound division and coupled with his versatility and immense talent, the man they call “Violent Bob Ross” is a real prospect in the division.
The 27-year-old has had his fair share of bad luck. Peña competed on The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated in 2018. Representing Team Cormier, Peña suffered a foot injury during his quarter-final matchup, cutting his run on the show short.
Nevertheless, Dana White promised him a fight on the finale card, and he went on to submit Richie Smullen with a first-round choke. Peña’s 3-3 record since really doesn’t tell the tale of his MMA abilities.
A close split decision loss to Michael Trizano added an opening blemish to his MMA record, and he was extremely unlucky to fall victim to the controversial decision loss to Matt Frevola in 2019. On MMA Decisions, 55% of fans gave the fight to Peña.
An impressive victory over Steve Garcia brought Peña back on track, but a surprise submission defeat to Khama Worthy has left him needing a big rebound performance at UFC Vegas 24.
Peña is set to face Alex Munoz on Saturday. Munoz was undefeated before Nasrat Haqparast handed him his first MMA loss on his UFC debut. Needing to make an impact in the promotion, he'll surely take the fight to Peña and it should make for an intriguing bout.
Luis Peña is certainly one to look out for this weekend and to be honest, it's pretty hard to miss him anyway...
#3 Ricardo Ramos
UFC Vegas 24 really is a card full of prospects and that always makes for a good watch. The latest potential future star on this list is Ricardo Ramos.
At just 25-years-old, Ramos undoubtedly has a long and successful future in the UFC ahead of him. ‘Carcacinha’ was signed by the UFC as a 9-1 professional. Three wins in a row, including a memorable spinning back elbow against Aiemann Zahabi, established his name in the UFC's featherweight division.
But Ramos has gone 2-2 in the UFC since the start of 2019. TKO losses to Said Nurmagomedov and, most recently, Lerone Murphy have left Ramos needing a win at UFC Vegas 24 to avoid a negative record over his last five fights.
Standing opposite him in the octagon will be Bill ‘Senor Perfecto’ Algeo. The 31-year-old is 1-1 in the UFC and will be looking to use a win against the exciting Ramos to start a string of victories in the promotion.
Ramos fulfills every criteria to be classed as a prospect and he's one of the top names to watch for on this weekend's card.
#2 Abdul Razak Alhassan
With Abdul Razak Alhassan, the term ‘knockout artist’ has never been more relevant. He has 10 wins and 10 knockouts. Aside from when the likes of Francis Ngannou are involved, there aren’t many safer bets for a KO.
But over the last year, the Ghanaian’s UFC career has slid downhill. After five fights in the promotion, ‘Judo Thunder’ had only lost a decision to Omari Akhmedov and boasted a KO win over the highly rated Niko Price.
But since then, Alhassan has missed weight twice and been defeated twice. Most recently, he was given a taste of his own knockout medicine, falling to a brutal strike from Khaos Williams. At UFC Vegas 24, Alhassan has to win.
The 35-year-old will be up against a fairly inexperienced opponent in Jacob Malkoun. ‘Mamba’ is a decade younger and has fought less than half the number of fights as Alhassan.
We didn’t get to see much of Malkoun on debut. He came into the fight with Phil Hawes undefeated in four professional fights but was viciously knocked out after just 18 seconds.
With Alhassan out for blood and Malkoun needing to register a UFC win, don’t blink during this one…
#1 Alexandr Romanov
Not many monikers are as appropriate as Alexandr Romanov’s ‘King Kong’ nickname. He boasts 13 wins, 13 finishes, eight submissions and five knockouts. The Moldovan is a monster heavyweight and looks a real threat to whoever enters the octagon with him.
After impressing in Moldova under the Eagles FC promotional banner, Romanov signed with the UFC in 2020 and made an immediate impact with dominant submission wins over Roque Martinez and Marcos Rogerio de Lima. Romanov put de Lima to sleep. Against the Brazilian, Romanov became the first fighter in UFC history to win a fight with a forearm choke.
This weekend, veteran Juan Espino will look to become the first man to beat Romanov. It's a matchup between arguably the two best unranked heavyweights in the UFC.
Espino, the TUF Season 28 winner, returned from a two-year layoff in September. ‘El Guapo’ versus Romanov really is a matchup of grappling behemoths. Rivaling Romanov’s forearm choke, Espino defeated Jeff Hughes at UFC 253 with a rare scarf hold submission.
With a 10-year age discrepancy, this fight will be a battle between a rising undefeated prospect and a veteran campaigner defeated just once in 11 fights. If there’s one fight you don’t want to miss at UFC Vegas 24 it’s this one.
Alexandr Romanov is the fighter to watch this weekend.
