UFC Fight Night 232 Fight Card: A night for someone to make a name for themselves
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Ryan Sidle
It’s less than a week since UFC 295’s night of early finishes and UFC Fight Night 232 Fight Card promises yet more high-octane action. Once again there’s one of Britain’s best on the card as Paul Craig faces Brendan Allen in the main event.
The UFC fight card this weekend comes to us from the UFC Apex in Nevada.
UFC Fight Night 232 Fight Card: Everything you need to know
The UFC 232 Fight Night fight card has some intriguing battles with a submission specialist main event, an undefeated record on the line in the co-main, women trying to climb the rankings and all sorts of clashes of styles down the card.
UFC Fight Night 232 Co-main and Main Events
Middleweight: Brendan Allen vs Paul Craig
Welterweight: Michael Morales vs Jake Matthews
It’s a battle of the submission specialists in the main event of the UFC Fight Night 232 fight card with Brendan Allen going up against Paul Craig.
The American is unbeaten in five, having last tasted defeat in December 2021, winning four of them by tapping out his opponent. Scotsman Craig is in just his second fight at middleweight, having made his debut in the division by defeating Andre Muniz back in July.
Craig will be looking to take Allen’s position in the top 10 rankings at middleweight. The current number 10 probably has more power at 185 lbs and is more dangerous, though both men have questions over their chins.
He's undefeated in the Octagon and he's back this weekend! ?
You can watch Michael Morales in the co-main event at #UFCVegas82!
Matthews has been pretty inconsistent during his time with the organization, losing six of his 18 fights and only ever putting together two three-fight winning streaks. He comes up against Morales who has won all three of his UFC fights since coming through Dana White’s contenders series. 73% of his MMA wins have come inside the distance.
UFC Fight Night 232 Main Card
Middleweight: Brendan Allen (22-5-0) vs Paul Craig (17-6-1)
Welterweight: Michael Morales (15-0-0) vs Jake Matthews (19-6-0)
Lightweight: Jordan Leavitt (11-2-0) vs Chase Hooper (12-3-1)
Bantamweight: Payton Talbot (6-0-0) vs Nick Aguire (7-1-0)
Women’s Strawweight: Amanda Ribas (11-4-0) vs Luana Pinheiro (11-1-0)
Welterweight: Jonny Parsons (9-3-0) vs Uros Medic (9-1-0)
UFC Fight Night 232 Prelims
Featherweight: Jonathan Pearce (14-4-0) vs Joanderson Brito (15-3-1)
Bantamweight: Chan Anheliger (12-6-0) vs Jose Johnson (15-8-0)
Middleweight: Cesar Almeida (4-0-0) vs Christian Leroy Duncan (8-1-0)
Heavyweight: Mick Parkin (7-0-0) vs Caio Machado (8-1-1)
Featherweight: Jeka Saragih (13-3-0) vs Lucas Alexander (8-3-0)
Women’s Bantamweight: Lucie Pudilova (14-8-0) vs Ailin Perez (8-2-0)
Lightweight: Trey Ogden (16-6-0) vs Nikolas Motta (13-5-0)
Flyweight: Charles Johnson (13-5-0) vs Rafael Estevam (11-0-0)
The UFC fight card this weekend features some intriguing fights with five of the fighters heading into the card with undefeated records to defend, including two on the main card.
Only Allen’s fight with Craig and the Women’s Strawweight fight between Amanda Ribas and Luana Pinheiro sees ranked fighters competing so there’s a real chance for some of the lesser-known names to put themselves in the spotlight.
Both women in that Strawweight match-up on UFC Fight Night 232 fight card have the chance to push themselves up the rankings following Jessica Andrade’s win over Mackenzie Dern at UFC 295 last weekend, now that Dern sits directly above the pair.
Jonny Parsons meeting in the octagon with Uros Medic could be an absolute banger with both men winning 78% of their MMA bouts by TKO or KO, so it could get tasty between the ‘Sluggernaut’ and the ‘Doctor.’
After seeing Tom Aspinall become just the third British champion in UFC history, it’s not just Allen who will be hoping to be inspired by his success, with Christina Leroy Duncan and undefeated heavyweight Mick Parkin both appearing on the prelims.
It’s the main event of the prelims that is the most interesting of the fights before the main card, with Jonathan Pearce and Joanderson Brito understandably close in the betting.
The pair will content a clash of styles considering Pearce’s ability to grind down his opponent with his size and grappling at 145 lbs and Brito’s ability to stop opponents, as he does in his past three outings.
UFC Fight Night 232 Fight Card: Match-Ups to Watch Out For
The UFC Fight Night 295 fight card’s lightweight bout between Jordan Leavitt and Chase Hooper is an interesting one, in part thanks to the pair going back and forth in a war of words.
Leavitt has said he wants to be the first man to submit Hooper in his MMA career. What adds to the interest is Leavitt’s work with stablemate Sean Strickland. The middleweight champion's advice looked to have rubbed off on his teammate when Leavitt earned a TKO win over Victor Muniz last time out.
Elsewhere on the UFC fight card tonight, Parsons and Medic has a feel of the welterweight version of UFC fight card co-main event from last weekend between Aspinall and Pavlovic.
Both men come into the fight with a penchant for stopping their opponents early, thanks to their big strikes and big reputations. It may well be a case of who has the stronger chin or side of the head, or who can just avoid getting hit the longest.
It’s sure to be an exciting night of MMA on the UFC fight card this weekend.
Ryan Sidle is a sports journalist with nearly a decade in the industry. He's been interested in boxing since Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno and his MMA fandom was sparked by Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva.
