Featherweights Edson Barboza and Giga Chikadze will take top billing Saturday night for the UFC.
The Top-10 fighters will headline the event live from the UFC Apex.
Along with Barboza-Chikadze, the finals in The Ultimate Fighter are set. Bryan Battle takes on Gilbert Urbina and Ricky Turcios meets Brady Hiestand.
The main card airs live on ESPN and ESPN+ with prelims on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
KO artist Barboza (22-9, fighting out of Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has been thrilling fans for years with highlight-reel finishes. Throughout his UFC career, he has delivered memorable victories against Beneil Dariush, Terry Etim and, most recently, Shane Burgos. Barboza now aims to keep his momentum going by becoming the first fighter to stop Chikadze in the UFC.
Rising contender and former kickboxer Chikadze (13-2, fighting out of Tbilisi, Georgia) quickly climbed the featherweight ranks upon joining the UFC roster in 2019. Since then, he is undefeated in the Octagon with wins over Cub Swanson, Jamey Simmons and Omar Morales. Chikadze now goes for the biggest win of his career to continue his ascent up the 145-pound ladder.
The Return of the Ultimate Fighter will conclude with an all Team Volkanovski finale. The final middleweight bout will see Battle (5-1, fighting out of Charlotte, N.C.) take on Urbina (6-1, fighting out of Weslaco, Texas), who is replacing Team Ortega’s Tresean Gore due to injury. Also, Turcios (10-2, fighting out of Sacramento, Calif.) faces Hiestand (5-1, fighting out of Spokane Valley, Wash.) at bantamweight.
Other bouts include:
- Kevin Lee (18-6, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) returns to welterweight to take on rising star Daniel Rodriguez (15-2, fighting out of Alhambra, Calif.)
- Team Ortega middleweights collide when Andre Petroski (5-1, fighting out of Springfield Township, Pennsylvania) faces Micheal Gillmore (6-3, fighting out of Charlotte, Michigan)
- Makhmud Muradov (25-6, fighting out of Bukhara, Uzbekistan) looks for another highlight-reel finish when he faces gritty veteran Gerald Meerschaert (32-14, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisc.) in a middleweight bout
- Antonio Braga Neto (9-3, 1 NC, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) intends to stop Abdul Razak Alhassan (10-4, fighting out of Fort Worth, Texas) from reaching his first win at middleweight
- Fan favorite Sam Alvey (33-15-1 1NC, fighting out of Temecula, Calif.) returns against Wellington Turman (16-5, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil) in a middleweight bout
- Dustin Jacoby (14-5-1, fighting out of Englewood, Colo.) faces Darren Stewart (12-7 2NC, fighting out of London, England) in an exciting matchup of light heavyweight strikers
- Featherweight prospects collide when Jamall Emmers (18-5, fighting out of Redlands, Calif.) squares off with Pat Sabatini (14-3, fighting out of Philadelphia, Penn.)
