UFC Vegas 73 Fight Card: Another Stacked Fight Night in the UFC Apex
Published
3 weeks ago
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By
Vladislav Tchakarov
Week after week, the Ultimate Fighting Championship spoils us with incredible events. This time, we have a Fight Night in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Here is what you can expect from the UFC Vegas 73 fight card.
UFC Vegas 73 Fight Card: Everything You Need to Know
The UFC fight card this weekend is all about prospects gaining momentum and veterans having a final chance for a significant run. The main event will obviously involve Mackenzie Dern vs Angela Hill and it is an interesting one.
Many of us believe that Angela Hill is not worthy of a main event fight with her terrible 15-12 record in MMA. But the fighter claims that she will win here and she expressed wild confidence in the UFC press conference yesterday. She explained that the rankings have disrespected her over the years and she is one of the best in the world – shots fired.
From the bouts we see in this fight card, we can expect a lot of knockouts and early stoppages on Saturday. The card is stacked with strikers and this should be a wild event. Edmen Shahbazyan will face Anthony Hernandez and Andre Fialho will clash with Joaquin Buckley – these are two fights that you should definitely watch live.
UFC Vegas 73: Co-Main and Main Events
• Women's Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern (12-3-0) vs Angela Hill (15-12-0) • Middleweight: Edmen Shahbazyan (12-3-0) vs Anthony Hernandez (10-2-0)
The main event of the UFC fight card includes Mackenzie Dern vs Angela Hill. It will be an interesting clash of styles and there is also quite a big gap in age. Mackenzie Dern is 30 years old while Hill is 38 and this usually is a big disadvantage. The UFC had a curious stat displayed on the previous event that in 70% of the fights, the younger athlete wins.
Anyhow, we think that the co-main event between Edmen Shahbazyan and Anthony Hernandez will be the better match to watch. Two technical fighters with huge ambitions and goals. Both of them will look for the early stoppage and it will be a war.
UFC Vegas 73 Fight Card: Main Card
Besides the two biggest bouts, we have a card stacked with prospects and fighters that will finally get their chance to shine on the big stage. This main card has the potential to be among the best fight nights this year.
• Women's Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern (12-3-0) vs Angela Hill (15-12-0) • Middleweight: Edmen Shahbazyan (12-3-0) vs Anthony Hernandez (10-2-0) • Catchweight: Emily Ducote (12-7-0) vs Loopy Godinez (9-3-0) • Welterweight: Andre Fialho (16-6-0) vs Joaquin Buckley (15-6-0) • Lightweight: Diego Ferreira (17-5-0) vs Michael Johnson (22-18-0) • Lightweight: Maheshate (9-2-0) vs Viacheslav Borshchev (6-3-0)
We definitely expect a massive battle between Andre Fialho and Joaquin Buckley here. Both fighters were expected to be among the best at this point but have been struggling in the last couple of years. Both of them are coming into this one with two defeats, so this could really be their final chance to shine in the UFC.
Surprisingly, we have some incredible fighters in the Prelims that we believe deserve a higher-ranked match in this event.
• Women's Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz (15-7-0) vs Vanessa Demopoulos (9-4-0) • Welterweight: Orion Cosce (8-1-0) vs Gilbert Urbina (6-2-0) • Heavyweight Bout: Ilir Latifi (17-8-0) vs Rodrigo Nascimento (9-1-0) • Lightweight: Chase Hooper (11-3-1) vs Nick Fiore (6-1-0) • Women's Flyweight: Natalia Silva (14-5-1) vs Victoria Leonardo (9-5-0) • Welterweight: Takashi Sato (16-7-0) vs Themba Gorimbo (10-4-0)
A lot of fighters on the Prelims will probably have their last chance in the UFC too. As soon as the opening match, we have Takashi Sato, who is on a 3-match losing streak and if he loses this one, he will probably be out of the promotion.
A little later, we have Chase Hooper and Nick Fiore, who were both supposed to be future stars at the start of their UFC careers. But both lost in their recent bouts and will be extra motivated for this one.
Ilir Latifi and Rodrigo Nascimento will clash in another curious bout. Nascimento last fought in September and overall, he has had only three fights in the last two years, which is not enough. On the other end, Latifi also fought only three times since 2020. Both fighters have to prove themselves on Saturday.
In the featured prelim in the UFC Vegas 73 fight card, Karolina Kowalkiewicz has one final chance to run for the title or at least a higher ranking before she retires. She is a fan favorite and we would have loved to see her in the Main Card after winning her last two fights.
UFC Fight Card Tonight: Matchups to Watch Out For
We started with the main event above and we have big expectations for Mackenzie Dern. We mentioned that Angela Hill is overconfident ahead of this bout. She believes that she can handle Dern's wrestling and will not get submitted (like we all expect).
The thing about Hill is that she has unbelievable cardio. Most of her fights end with decisions and if Dern fails to take her down, it will be a long one. But on the other end, Dern is a BJJ specialist. And she stated that she plans to be more aggressive than before.
In her early days, she won most of her fights with submission but then the last three all went to the judges. Mackenzie Dern said that she expects a submission by the end of the third round. Let's wait and see!
In the co-main event of the UFC Vegas 73 fight card, we have Edmen Shahbazyan vs Anthony Hernandez. And this one will be a thriller. Neither of these men enjoys a long fight – they always go for the KO or submission. Edmen is an unbelievable striker and he got 10 of his 12 wins with a KO or TKO.
Against him, however, is a versatile fighter that can literally do everything in the octagon. Hernandez is a brown belt in BJJ and won most of his fights with submission. However, he is more than capable of holding his ground in a striking duel and he has won fights with KOs as well. This could easily be the best fight on the UFC fight card this weekend.
Overall, there is a lot of versatility in this fight card and we should see all kinds of outcomes – KOs, submissions, and decisions. It is not a pay-per-view and there is no title fight but it is well worth watching.
