5 burning questions heading into UFC Fight Night 182

Like a cat falling out of a tree and landing on its feet, the UFC finds itself with one fire replacement main event on Saturday.

UFC Fight Night 182 was originally scheduled to be headlined by former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos against fast-rising Islam Makhachev. But the latter had to pull out one week out because of a staph infection.

In on his white horse to save the day rode Paul Felder. Felder (17-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) was already popular with fans both for his exciting fight style and his insightful color commentary on UFC broadcasts, and now he’s taking a fight against a dangerous opponent in dos Anjos (29-13 MMA, 18-11 UFC) in a feature bout that is significantly more interesting than the original.

And that’s a good thing, because, well, underneath the new main event, we’re not going to pretend this is the deepest card the UFC has ever presented. But sometimes those cards turn into pleasant surprises, so who knows?

UFC Fight Night 182 will be held Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It will stream on ESPN+. 

Without further ado, here are five burning questions heading into UFC Fight Night 182.