Top 5 flyweights Brandon Royval and Matheus Nicolau meet in this critical pairing on Saturday’s prelims. A member of the squad at Factory X, Royval has earned consecutive wins to cement his standing as a contender in the 125-pound weight class, while Nicolau has gone 4-0 since returning to the promotion. The winner of this one will be on the short list of potential title challengers heading into the second half of the year, so pay close attention on Saturday.
Zak Cummings vs. Ed Herman
Missouri’s own Zak Cummings makes his return to action against fellow veteran Ed Herman in this light heavyweight paring. The 38-year-old Cummings has gone 9-4 in his UFC career, winning two before losing one over his first dozen appearances before earning a victory over Alessio Di Chirico last time out. Herman has been a fixture on the roster since his finale appearance on Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter and looks to get back in the win column after having his three-fight run of success ended in his last outing.
Gillian Robertson vs. Piera Rodríguez
Gillian Robertson and Piera Rodriguez square off in a spectacular strawweight pairing this weekend. The 27-year-old Robertson scored a second-round submission win over Mariya Agapova last time out to move to 8-5 in the UFC, while Rodriguez has earned unanimous decision victories in each of her first two post-DWCS appearances inside the Octagon.
Lando Vannata vs. Daniel Zellhuber
Lando Vannata moves back to lightweight here, matching up with DWCS grad Daniel Zellhuber on Saturday. The veteran split a pair of fights at featherweight prior to this return to the 155-pound ranks, and is 4-6-2 in a dozen UFC starts, while “The Golden Boy” suffered the first loss of his career in his promotional debut in September against Trey Ogden. We’ll see which of these two will bounce back this weekend.
Bruna Brasil vs. Denise Gomes
It’s an all-Brazilian battle in the strawweight division as Bruna Brasil faces off with Denise Gomes. After scoring a head kick knockout win to earn her UFC contract, Brasil looks to extend her winning streak to eight as she makes her debut on Saturday. Gomes gave a good accounting of herself in dropping her promotional debut to Loma Lookboonmee in September, and aims to rebound here.
Aaron Phillips vs. Gaston Bolanos
Aaron Phillips returns for the first time in nearly three years, welcoming Gaston Bolanos to the UFC for the first time. The 33-year-old bantamweight veteran Phillips hasn’t fought since losing to Jack Shore in the summer of 2020 on UFC Fight Island, which snapped a five-fight winning streak. Bolanos owns a 6-3 record in MMA, with each of his wins coming inside the distance, which means we should be in for exciting times when these two share the cage in Kansas City.
Joselyne Edwards vs. Lucie Pudilova
Bantamweights open the show at T-Mobile Center, as Joselyne Edwards meets Lucie Pudilova in Saturday’s opener. The 27-year-old Edwards enters on a two-fight winning streak, having posted decision wins over Ramona Pascual and Ji Yeon Kim last summer. After two-and-a-half years away from the Octagon, Pudilova returned last summer at UFC 278, registering a second-round TKO win over Wu Yanan to earn her third UFC victory and extend her winning streak to three.
