Michel Pereira has seemingly found his home at middleweight, and this marks the first big shot for "Demolidor" to prove he's a potential contender at 185 pounds. Pereira was extremely hyped ahead of his UFC debut in 2019, but that was mostly due to entertainment purposes rather than any expectation that he'd contend as a welterweight; an elite athlete, Pereira was willing to fight behind some of the wildest ideas in the sport, backflipping into opponents, rebounding off cages and essentially doing whatever came to mind. That led to Pereira building one of the best highlight reels in the sport, but his inefficient style would often result in him tiring out and losing fights he had no business losing - so it wasn't a shock that his first three UFC fights ran the gamut of results; he tore apart Danny Roberts , lost to natural featherweight Tristan Connelly and then got disqualified for landing an illegal knee on Diego Sanchez . For whatever reason, the Sanchez loss seemingly caused Pereira to re-evaluate things and start fighting seriously, which would normally be a betrayal of what brought him to the dance - but as it turns out, he's actually a good fighter when he decides to apply himself. Pereira's now riding an eight-fight winning streak, which at first saw him leverage his combination of size and speed into staying defensive while picking his opponents apart from range; it could sometimes take the fight out of the fight, but Pereira still had the occasional wild exchange, and importantly showed a knack for landing some hard offense just as his opponents seemed to be building momentum. Five fights into this current winning streak, weight management issues forced Pereira to ply his trade up to middleweight, and that's turned out to be a blessing in disguise; he hasn't faced the best competition at 185 pounds, but his speed is now even more of an advantage, and he's blown through three solid fighters in about a minute apiece. Now comes a main event against Anthony Hernandez in a big opportunity for both men, as Hernandez also looks to prove that his own approach can work against something approximating elite competition. Hernandez had a fairly unnotable start to his UFC career until a shocking breakthrough win over Rodolfo Vieira in 2021; Vieira, one of the most decorated grapplers on the UFC roster, figured to run through an unathletic wrestler in Hernandez, only for Hernandez to survive and exhaust Vieira with non-stop scrambles, eventually earning one of the unlikeliest submission wins in UFC history. Hernandez has kept things up to put together four straight wins since, all through that same gameplan; there might be some early trouble and Hernandez's approach might not be the prettiest, but his willingness to keep marching forward and scrambling with his opponents on the mat has consistently led to him finding their breaking point and scoring a late finish. It's been a fun enough style that Hernandez has retained a fanbase even through some recent stretches of inactivity; "Fluffy" likely would've had his opportunity to move up the rankings by now had injuries not kept getting in the way. If this fight goes over the long haul, it'll be absolutely fascinating to see what Hernandez can accomplish; Pereira's gas tank, which had to be managed at 170 pounds, hasn't been tested with his quick wins at middleweight, and it's unclear exactly how well either man can keep up given the combination of Hernandez's doggedness and Pereira's freakish athleticism. But things might not make it that far; Hernandez starts slow before he builds all that momentum, and it does seem like he's going to immediately charge into danger against one of the hardest hitters in the division. The pick is Pereira via first-round knockout.
This should be a fun one, on top of proving that the winner is still a viable potential contender in a deep bantamweight division. Rob Font 's in a frustrating spot at the moment, as he still clearly seems to be a top-ten bantamweight but has had little success against a recent slate of tough competition. Font had a few bumps along the road towards achieving relevance, first due to injuries and then his own issues inside of the cage; Font would have showings where he looked both technically proficient and devastatingly powerful with his offensive weapons, but would then cede ground and look much less effective against higher-level opponents willing to just march forward and try to pour things on. It wasn't until a 2019 win over Ricky Simon that Font finally found his comfort under pressure, and that eventually led to a run that got Font into some main event fights, which is where he ran into problems against the bantamweight elite. It's hard to say Font has done many things wrong, but even as he racked up effective offense against the likes of Jose Aldo , Marlon Vera and Deiveson Figueiredo , those opponents were powerful enough athletes that they could offset all of Font's hard work with one or two big moments of offense, winning rounds and showing Font that he has a clear athletic ceiling. But while Font might not be able to hang shot for shot with the hardest hitters in the division, his lone win in his last five fights - a 2023 knockout of Adrian Yanez - showed that trying to out-punch Font is still something that a majority of 135-pounders can't pull off. Nearly a year removed from the Figueiredo loss, Font returns to take on Kyler Phillips in a fascinating matchup. Phillips has been a prospect to watch ever since he landed in the UFC in 2019, mostly owing to his athleticism; "The Matrix" is one of the speedier athletes in the division, using his athletic gifts to try and beat his opponents to the literal punch. Phillips mostly coasted on those gifts until he suddenly got thrown into the fire against Song Yadong in 2021, which made it a pleasant surprise when he pulled off the huge upset, fighting the most focused fight of his career and staying out of trouble while picking apart the much slower-footed Song. Of course, all of those good vibes went out the window when Phillips indulged in all of his worst habits in a follow-up loss to Raulian Paiva ; Phillips thankfully has won all of his fights since, but he also hasn't entirely recaptured the form he showed in the Song fight, splitting the difference with performances that are enough to get past some top competition but are still far from efficient. That might still be enough to get past Font here, and this matchup might be more of a referendum on where Font is in his late-thirties than anything else; if there's been any slippage on the Font end this could turn into a definitive Phillips win, but the bet is that the veteran has enough in the tank to get by with his usual mix of sound fundamentals. The pick is Font via decision.
Is Charles Johnson ready to finally make a run to contention? Johnson had an undeniable level of regional success prior to his UFC debut on top of being an obvious physical talent, but it was unclear exactly how he'd fare after a jump up to the big leagues. A tall flyweight with athletic pop and excellent cardio, "InnerG" has always tended to coast on those physical gifts; even as a regional champion, Johnson would take multiple rounds to feel out his opponents and seemingly fight a losing fight up until the point that he suddenly turned things around and scored a late finish. After making it to the UFC, Johnson proved himself to be a tough out - he still has yet to lose via anything but decision - but it did seem like those issues would permanently come back to bite him, particularly after three straight losses in 2023 that saw Johnson unable to turn things up and score a victory. But 2024 has seen a huge turnaround for Johnson, as while he's still a slow starter, he's now turning the corner earlier and earlier on top of rediscovering some of his finishing ability; he scored decision wins over Azat Maksum and Jake Hadley over the back half of those fights, and a fun fight against top prospect Joshua Van saw him close the show with a brutal third-round knockout. Johnson seems poised to break into the UFC's flyweight rankings and possibly accomplish even more, and Mudaerji marks the next step up in competition. The UFC's first Tibetan fighter, Mudaerji seemed like a decent enough bantamweight prospect but truly popped after he cut down to 125 pounds, where he typically has a massive size advantage without sacrificing any of his speed. That's allowed "The Tibetan Eagle" to hit opponents hard from some unorthodox angles, but his focus on aggression has been a double-edged sword, as he's come out on the losing end against rugged veterans Matt Schnell and Tim Elliott . Mudaerji's defensive wrestling particularly looked like a liability against Elliott, so that's a clear path to victory for Johnson in what generally seems like a rough matchup for the Tibetan fighter; Mudaerji won't even have his typical size advantage against the similarly built Johnson. Johnson's a hard fighter to trust, since there's always the chance he goes back to his default state of being relatively inactive, but as long as he turns things up at some point, he should find some success; the pick is Johnson via third-round submission.
Has Jake Hadley found his new division? The Englishman was signed by the UFC after a win on the Contender Series in 2021, which was a bit controversial - Hadley both missed weight and apparently had some issues outside of the cage - but he quickly settled in as a solid middle-of-the-road flyweight; he would look dominant against opponents he could effectively bully, but had little answer for when opponents could bully him in return. That latter point made it a bit surprising when he accepted a late notice fight up at bantamweight against Caolan Loughran last July, but Hadley looked sharp at 135 pounds, albeit against one of the stockier bantamweights on the roster. He looks to keep that momentum up here against UFC newcomer Cameron Smotherman , who steps in on a few days’ notice. Smotherman's appearance on the Contender Series last year was a disappointment, as he got knocked out by Charalampos Grigoriou in a minute flat, but he's recovered well in the year and change since, stringing together three straight wins. Smotherman could certainly pick up the win here, as he's a lanky striker that could lure Hadley into a slow-paced fight, but his takedown defense is a clear liability; given the late notice spot, Hadley should be able to apply pressure, get in on some takedowns and generally make this his kind of fight. The pick is Hadley via decision.
Two featherweight veterans square off in a bout that somehow hasn't happened already at some point during their long careers. Daniel Pineda 's career is the hope for any finish-oriented brawler, as despite being 39 years old with over a decade and a half of experience under his belt, "The Pit" still has a young man's approach; Pineda's fought nearly fifty times and somehow has yet to win a fight via decision. Now in his second stint with the UFC, Pineda's continued to live up to that billing; he's developed the timing and patience to pick his best spots, but nearly everything that Pineda tries is geared towards ending the fight, with the clear acceptance that he might be putting himself in position to lose in the process. After a win over Tucker Lutz early last year, Pineda's perennial gambit has worked against him in losses to Alex Caceres and Nathaniel Wood , so a fight here against Darren Elkins - who is still chugging along at 40 years old - is a much-needed opportunity to get back in the win column. It's a bit of a shock that Elkins is still going, since his nickname of "The Damage" was mostly earned through his ability to keep taking abuse while marching forward in an attempt to out-wrestle his opponents. That grinding style managed to get Elkins into the fringes of the featherweight title picture until Alexander Volkanovski took him apart in 2018, and Elkins's subsequent performances suggested he was in the midst of a career-ending slide. It's hard to say Elkins looks great at this point, even with some improvements as a striker over the years, but he's managed to alternate wins and losses over the last three years and change; the defeats have been brutal, but there's enough chaff on the UFC roster that Elkins can still manage to drag into his type of fight. There's a chance that Pineda fits into that last category, as he is somewhat willing to fight in whatever phase his opponent prefers, but he's a good enough grappler that he should be hard for Elkins to control, and it seems inevitable that one of Pineda's hard strikes will eventually hit its target. The pick is Pineda via second-round knockout.
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