Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Ribas 2

Currently sitting at No. 6 in the rankings, Dern enters 2025 off a win over Loopy Godinez in Abu Dhabi at the start of August but is also at a bit of a crossroads in terms of where she fits in the division. Historically, she’s beaten those positioned behind her in the divisional hierarchy but struggled to get by those in front of her, and if the multiple-time Brazilian jiu jitsu world champion is ever going to make a real push to challenge for championship gold, that trend has to change and this has to be the year where that starts to happen.

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One of only two fighters currently ranked in two weight classes, Ribas returns to the 115-pound division after dropping her one and only bout of 2024, a flyweight main event opposite Rose Namajunas, last March. While she’s split her time between the two divisions, Ribas has generally thrived at strawweight, posting a 5-1 record, while posting a 2-3 record in five fights at flyweight.

Ribas won the first meeting between the two more than five years ago in Tampa, collecting a clean sweep of the scorecards. Each has certainly grown and improved in the subsequent years, but it will be interesting to see if those developments create a different dynamic between the two inside the Octagon or if things play out along similar lines, resulting in a similar outcome.

Additional Main Card Matchups

Santiago Ponzinibbio vs Carlston Harris

Santiago Ponzinibbio and Carlston Harris clash in a battle of welterweight veterans in Saturday’s co-main event.

Middleweights known for handling business in expeditious fashion face off in the middle of this weekend’s main card as Cesar Almeida takes on Abdul Razak Alhassan.

A member of the DWCS Class of ’23, Almeida earned a Performance of the Night bonus in his debut win over Dylan Budka last April before dropping a decision to Roman Kopylov in his sophomore appearance under the UFC banner. He bounced back with a grinding win over Ihor Potieria at UFC 307 to advance to 6-1 and close out his rookie year on the roster.

Alhassan has maintained a 100-percent finishing rate through his 12 career victories but enters Saturday’s contest seeking his first win since the first month of 2023. His July bout with Cody Brundage ended in a no contest 37 seconds into the fight after Alhassan landed an accidental elbow to the back of Brundage’s head and he was unable to continue, and then his October pairing with Josh Fremd was scrapped when the Pittsburgh native missed weight and was hospitalized, so you can be sure that he is chomping at the bit to get back into the Octagon.

While this has the potential to be a “someone is going to get knocked out” situation, Almeida has shown more diversity to his game in each appearance, so it will be curious to see if he opts to stand with the Colorado-based powerhouse or deploy a more clinch and grappling-heavy approach once they’re in there.

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Christian Rodriguez and Austin Bashi share the Octagon in the fascinating clash of talented featherweights on Saturday’s main card.

Still just 27 years old, Rodriguez makes his seventh appearance under the UFC banner here, looking to rebound from a first-round submission loss to Julian Erosa last July. The Milwaukee product has gone 4-2 in his first six UFC starts, posting three wins over previously unbeaten prospects during that time, including handing Raul Rosas Jr. the first and only loss of his career.

Bashi makes the walk for the first time after earning a contract with a second-round submission win over Dorian Ramos this past season on Dana White’s Contender Series. The 25-year-old from West Bloomfield Township is 13-0 overall with eight victories inside the distance and carries a ton of hype heading into his promotional debut.

This one made the January edition of The 10, my monthly look at the upcoming fights I’m most excited about, as the “Prospect Killer vs. Killer Prospect” angle is too juicy to overlook. Rodriguez has shown flashes of serious upside, but also faltered in some spots, while Bashi looks to instantly announce his presence in the promotion by beating a well-regarded talent right out of the chute.

Punahele Soriano vs Uroš Medić

Welterweights occupy the opening slot on the main card this weekend as DWCS alums Punahele Soriano and Uros Medic ring in the new year together inside the Octagon.

After arriving in the UFC with an undefeated record and posting stoppage wins in each of his first two Octagon appearances, Soriano stumbled, dropping four of his next five, prompting a shift down a division. He looked outstanding in his first welterweight showing, dominating Miguel Baeza to get things moving in the right direction again.

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Medic took the opposite road to competing in the 170-pound weight class, moving up following a trio of starts at lightweight. Just like his time at 155, the Orange County product (by way of Alaska, by way of Serbia) has gone 2-1 in his first three appearances in his new surroundings, bookending a solitary setback with a pair of strong, winning efforts.

Each of these men has shown glimpses of being fighters to watch in the welterweight division, but the sample size is still too small to be able to make a full and accurate read of things. This one should help clarify things a little more, and a dominant effort for either individual could set them up for a significant step up in competition later in the year.

Preliminary Card Pairings

Jose Johnson vs Felipe Bunes

The prelims wrap with a pairing in the flyweight division, as Jose Johnson and Felipe Bunes share the Octagon.

A two-time DWCS contestant, Johnson started his UFC run at bantamweight, splitting a pair of appearances before moving to flyweight last time out and landing on the wrong side of the results in a matchup with ascending prospect Asu Almabayev. The 35-year-old Bunes dropped his lone start to date, suffering a second-round stoppage loss to Joshua Van on the opening card of last year.

Marco Tulio vs Ihor Potieria

DWCS grads Marco Tulio and Ihor Potieria square off in the first of the day’s middleweight pairings.

A member of the Chute Boxe Diego Lima squad, Tulio earned a win, but not a contract, on Season 7, but punched his ticket to the UFC roster with a second-round stoppage win back in August. Potieria was part of the Class of ’21, and has gone just 2-5 in his first seven trips into the Octagon, entering this one having dropped consecutive contests and four of his last five.

Recent DWCS graduates Ernesta Kareckaite and Nicolle Caliari share the Octagon in this intriguing flyweight pairing on Saturday’s prelims.

Kareckaite earned a split decision win over Carli Judice to land her place on the UFC roster, but stumbled out of the gate, getting too far behind against Dione Barbosa in her promotional debut last May to be able to rally back. Caliari shone this past season on the annual talent-search series, submitting Canadian veteran Corinne Laframboise with a belly-down armbar to establish herself as one to watch heading into her debut.

Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs Bruno Lopes

It’s unbeaten versus once bested in this light heavyweight meeting of DWCS grads between Magomed Gadzhiyasulov and Bruno Lopes.

A perfect 9-0 to start his career, Gadzhiyasulov dominated Jose Medina to earn his contract, then claimed a majority decision win over Brendson Ribeiro in his maiden voyage into the Octagon in June. Lopes lost to Ribeiro in a stunning upset in his first DWCS appearance but returned last season and finished Mikheil Sazhiniani with body shots in the second round to move to 13-1 overall and earn the chance to compete on the biggest stage in the sport.

Fatima Kline vs Viktoriia Dudakova

Young talents looking to rebound from their first professional setbacks square off here as Fatima Kline takes on Viktoriia Dudakova in this compelling strawweight clash.

A two-division champ under the CFFC banner, Kline debuted on short notice up a division in July, landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in a bout with Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius. After posting wins in each of her first two UFC appearances, Dudakova couldn’t match the pace and conditioning of Sam Hughes last time out, dropping a split decision to the Fortis MMA rep in Abu Dhabi.

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