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Light heavyweights with a general dislike of allowing the judges to determine their fates meet in the penultimate fight of the night as Kennedy Nzechukwu steps in with Ion Cutelaba.

After snapping a two-fight skid last time out with a third-round stoppage win over Karl Roberson, Nzechukwu looks to start building some momentum once again. The former Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) contestant and Fortis MMA representative has the physical traits to be a menace in the Octagon, but has struggled with consistency and starting slowly, which could be a real issue against a sprinter like Cutelaba.

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Still only 28 and making the walk to the Octagon for the 14th time, Cutelaba has only been to the scorecards four times in his UFC career, deploying more of a “kill or be killed” approach that has resulted in seven of his last 10 fights ending before the first round expired. Cutelaba is one of those competitors who is more dangerous than his 5-7-1 record under the UFC banner would seem to indicate, and you can be sure he’ll be charging out of the corner looking to make a quick return to the win column on Saturday.

There is a strong likelihood that someone wins this fight in vicious fashion and the process of determining if that shall come to pass should be all kinds of fun to watch this weekend.

Andre Fialho vs Muslim Salikhov

Charles Johnson makes his second appearance of the year, with hopes of collecting his first UFC triumph as he takes on veteran Zhalgas Zhumagulov in what should be a competitive flyweight fight.

The former LFA flyweight champion, Johnson made his promotional debut in July in London, landing on the wrong side of the scores in a tough assignment against rising star Muhammad Mokaev. He’d won four straight prior to his UFC call-up, including a fifth-round knockout win over Carlos Mota, and should have more to offer against Zhumagulov on Saturday.

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Zhumagulov is another one of those fighters whose record (1-4 in the UFC) doesn’t quite tell the whole story about what he’s done inside the Octagon. While the 34-year-old has struggled to find positive results, he’s turned in good showings in defeat against Raulian Paiva, Amir Albazi and, most recently, Jeff Molina, to whom he dropped a split decision in June.

This feels like the kind of matchup that will tell fans and observers what to expect from Johnson going forward, as it takes a certain caliber of fighter to get the better of Zhumagulov. Every division needs or has its own Zhumagulov, and how Johnson navigates this weekend’s test will give folks a clearer understanding of where he fits in the flyweight hierarchy heading toward the end of the year.

Jack Della Maddalena vs Danny Roberts

Jack Della Maddalena and Danny Roberts face off in a welterweight pairing that comes complete with loads of post-fight bonus potential.

A member of the DWCS Class of ’21, Della Maddalena has made quite an early impression inside the Octagon, picking up a pair of first-round stoppage wins. Running through late-replacement Pete Rodriguez in January is one thing, but last time out, the streaking Australian pushed his winning streak to an even dozen with a dynamic finish of Russian veteran Ramazan Emeev, showing he’s definitely one to watch in the 170-pound weight class.

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Roberts edged out Emeev in his fight prior to facing Della Maddalena, but then followed it up by getting out-worked and nearly finished by Brazilian veteran Francisco Trinaldo. The British stalwart has struggled to find real consistency throughout the course of his UFC career, but halting the ascent of the emerging Aussie could be a very good way to right the ship and set a new course heading into 2023.

Both men like to strike and don’t mind taking one to land one, so don’t be surprised if they use the first couple minutes of the opening frame to get their reads and then start launching darts at each other for the remainder of the contest.

Jennifer Maia vs Maryna Moroz

Former title challenger Jennifer Maia looks to close out the year with a victory, while Maryna Moroz aims to build on her grudge match victory in March in this intriguing flyweight pairing.

After arriving to the UFC with a 15-4-1 record, the Invicta FC flyweight title over her shoulder, and riding a six-fight winning streak, Maia heads into her third appearance of 2022 on a two-fight slide and sporting a 4-5 mark through her first nine Octagon appearances. Now, those losses have all come against top-of-the-division talents, including champ Valentina Shevchenko, longtime No. 2 Katlyn Chookagian, and French contender Manon Fiorot, but with just one win in her last four outings, it’ll be interesting to see if Maia can work her way back into the win column in this one.

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Moroz made a splash in her promotional debut seven years ago by submitting Joanne Wood and calling out then-champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who was sitting in the front row in Krakow. She lost her next outing and went 3-3 over her first six fights overall, but since then, the 31-year-old has strung together three straight victories, culminating with her second-round submission finish of Mariya Agapova earlier this year.

Can Maia show she’s still a level ahead of her Ukrainian opponent or will Moroz just keep marching forward towards the top of the division?

Vince Morales vs Miles Johns

Talented bantamweights looking to end the year on a winning note meet on Saturday, as Vince Morales faces off with Miles Johns.

Morales snapped out of a rough 2-5 run with consecutive wins over Drako Rodriguez and Louis Smolka in 2021 to enter the year with a little forward momentum. That came to a halt when he landed on the wrong side of a one-sided decision against Jonathan Martinez in May, leading “Vandetta” looking to rebound here.

Johns earned back-to-back Performance of the Night bonus for third-round stoppage wins over Kevin Natividad and Anderson Dos Santos ahead of his clash with John Castaneda in February, but after a good opening round, he faded and was ultimately submitted in the third. While he’s 12-2 for his career, Johns is just 3-2 inside the Octagon, and like Morales, doesn’t want to wrap up the year in a slump.

Bantamweight remains the deepest, most competitive, division in the UFC, so wins are at a premium and don’t come easy. Both of these men are well aware of those facts and, as such, should be firing on all cylinders when they stand across from one another this weekend in Las Vegas.

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Strawweights looking to keep things moving in a positive direction meet in this one, as Vanessa Demopoulos takes on Maria Oliveira.

After dropping her short-notice debut up a division against veteran JJ Aldrich, Demopoulos has collected consecutive wins since returning to the 115-pound weight class. She followed up her first-round submission win over Silvana Gomez Juarez with a split decision victory over Jinh Yu Frey in June, elevating her record to 8-4 in the process.

Oliveira also dropped her first appearance inside the Octagon, though it wasn’t up in weight, as she landed on the wrong side of the cards in a clash with “Baby Shark” Tabatha Ricci last October. The Brazilian bounced back with a split decision win of her own over Gloria de Paula in June, giving her three wins in her last four starts.

There was another change atop the division last weekend and the pecking order feels as unsettled as it has been in quite some time in the 115-pound weight class, so this is a quality opportunity for either of these women to secure another victory and take another step forward as we head towards 2023.

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