Nigerian-born Sodiq Yusuff will chase a key victory when he faces Edson Barboza in the featherweight main event of a UFC Fight Night, set for the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
Yusuff (13-2) is seeking a third successive win after defeating Alex Caceres and Don Shainis in his last two trips to the Octagon and is looking to further elevate himself from number 11 in the division rankings.
“I’m a big believer in watching film, so I study a lot of people,” said ‘Super’ of his preparation. “I’ve always had good jiu-jitsu, I come from a good jiu-jitsu team [Team Lloyd Irvin]. A lot of people underestimate my grappling, but I’ve always had great grappling.”
Barboza (23-11) comes into the fight on the back of a spectacular KO win over Billy Quarantillo in April, bouncing back from successive losses to Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell.
The 37-year-old Brazilian is ranked number 13 in the division and looking to build further momentum.
“I really enjoy every moment. I’m very competitive and I feel that in training, in practice,” said Barboza. “I train with the best team in the world at American Top Team, and I’m still very competitive with the guys in training. There is young blood there, young killers, and they try to kill me, but I’m the same way. It’s still the same goal, nothing changed.”
The rest of the main card features a women’s flyweight clash between Jennifer Maia and Viviane Araujo; Jonathan Martinez v Adrian Yanez in the bantamweight division; a middleweight battle pits Marc-Andre Barriault against Michel Pereira; and Edgar Chairez faces Daniel Lacerda in a flyweight fight.
The bantamweight opener will see the main card UFC debut of South Africa’s Cameron Saaiman. The Pretoria-born fighter will face Christian Rodriguez in his attempt to extend his professional record to 10-0, having most recently claimed a first-round TKO of Terrence Mitchell on the early preliminary card of UFC 290 in July.
UFC Fight Night: Yusuff v Barboza – Main card
- Main event: Featherweight: Sodiq Yusuff v Edson Barboza
- Women’s flyweight: Jennifer Maia v Viviane Araujo
- Bantamweight: Jonathan Martinez v Adrian Yanez
- Middleweight: Marc-Andre Barriault v Michel Pereira
- Flyweight: Edgar Chairez v Daniel Lacerda
- Bantamweight: Cameron Saaiman v Christian Rodriguez