UFC Vegas 82 Start Time, Who Is Fighting Today!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday (Nov. 18, 2023) to stage UFC Vegas 82 LIVE from inside the friendly confines of UFC Apex. Headlining the ESPN+-streamed event will be a Middleweight bout between Brendan Allen (No. 10) and Paul Craig (No. 13). In the co-main event, Michael Morales will face Jake Matthews in a Welterweight affair.

What’s Hot:

When you talk about quiet contenders, they don’t get any better than Brendan Allen. “All In” has been fighting inside the Octagon for a total of four years now, starting off his career at 5-2 with losses to current 185-pound champion, Sean Strickland, and veteran contender, Chris Curtis. Since his loss to Curtis, Allen has racked up five straight wins, which includes his most-recent first-round submission victory over Bruno Silva this past summer (see it again here). Now, he is looking to gain a few spots in the rankings and a bigger share of the spotlight in his quest to get into the Top 5.

Standing in Allen’s way of consecutive win number six is Paul Craig, the hard-hitting Scot who managed to stop the bleeding of a two-fight losing streak in his most recent fight against Andre Muniz this past July. Prior to that win, “Bearjew” dropped back-to-back losses to Volkan Oezdemir and Johnny Walker at Light Heavyweight. But after making an impressive debut at Middleweight, Craig is looking to make a run in a new weight class against one of the division’s rising stars.

This fight is a classic clash of styles because Allen has made his bread-and-butter by forcing the majority of his foes to tap, racking up 13 submission wins compared to five knockouts. During his current streak, he has submitted four of his opponents while earning two “Performance of the Night” awards. As for Craig, he prefers to crack heads any chance he gets. With a 100-percent finish rate in victory, Crag has earned 13 wins by way of knockout/techncial knockout (TKO) to go along with four submissions. So bottom line, this fight will come down to who imposes their will first. Allen will have to take some risks if he wants to get close enough to grab a hold of “Bearjew,” who will be a bit heavier come fight night. He runs the high probability of getting tagged, but it’s a necessary chance to gamble on if he wants to implement his world-class jiu-jitsu. The winner takes a big leap in the division and sets himself up for a bigger fight against a higher-ranked opponent.

What’s Not:

I have a bit of an issue with the matchmaking thought process when booking Amanda Ribas vs. Luana Pinheiro. I get that Ribas is currently ranked No. 10 in the women’s Flyweight division, while Pinheiro has yet to be ranked, but the fact remains that one is going up and the other is trending downward. Ribas is coming off a loss to Maycee Barber (see it here), bringing her record to 1-2 in her last three fights. As for Pinheiro, she is currently riding a nine-fight win streak, which includes winning her first three fights inside the Octagon with her latest victory coming against Michelle Waterson-Gomez. I would have much rather seen Pinheiro get paired up with someone on a better streak for her main card debut.

Original Card vs. Actual Card:

Cesar Almeida made his MMA debut in 2016 and then proceeded to take a five-year break to focus on his kickboxing career. He returned to the cage in 2021 and has since racked up three straight wins including a unanimous decision win on the Contender Series over Lucas Fernando. He was set to make his debut on this card against Christian Leroy Duncan — who suffered a loss in his previous fight against Armen Petrosyan, which was the first loss of his professional MMA career — but was forced out of the fight with an undisclosed medical issue.

Injuries:

Jessie Butler was forced out of his fight against Jeka Saragih with an undisclosed injury and replaced by Lucas Alexander, a fight that will take place on the undercard.

New Blood:

Rafael Ramos Estevam will bring his 11-0 record to the Octagon after making a splash on the Contender Series with a knockout win in 2022. He’s been sitting idle for a while now, so he will come out aggressive to get a win right away. He has shown to have a well-rounded attack, winning four via KO/TKO, three via submission and four via unanimous decision. He will be facing off against Charles Johnson, who is in desperate need of a win after losing his previous two fights.

Caio Machado will bring his talents to the Octagon officially after earning a unanimous decision win on the Contender Series three months ago. Currently on a seven-fight win streak, Machado will face Michael Parkin, who made his successful UFC debut by defeating Jamal Pogues this past July via unanimous decision. The Contender Series alum has previously stopped all six of his opponents, so going to the scorecards was a first for the hard-hitting big man.

Payton Talbott will bring his 6-0 record to the eight-sided cage after punching his ticket to the big show via the Contender Series to face Nick Aguirre in a Featherweight fight. Talbott has a 90-percent finish rate, while Aguirre has finished every fighter he’s defeated, so this fight has all the makings of an all-out war.

Myktybek Orolbai will step in on short notice to replace Jonny Parsons to faces Uros Medic. He is currently riding a six-fight win streak, five via KO/TKO. He has an impressive 11-1 record, so he is going to make a great addition to the 170-pound division thanks to his 90-percent finish rate. As for Medic, he is on a two-fight win streak and is 3-1 so far in his young UFC career. The Team Alpha Male-trained fighter is 9-1 overall as a pro, so this is a great matchup between two surging contenders.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look:

Lucas Alexander picked up his first win inside the Octagon earlier this year and will now look to build off that momentum when he battles Jeka Saragih, who is coming off a tough TKO loss at the hands of Anshul Jubli in the “Road To UFC” finale, snapping his five-fight win streak. Both men are just 28 years of age and are looking to carve out a space for themselves in the stacked Featherweight division.

In the Welterweight division, two struggling fighters who can’t seem to gain much momentum will square off as Trey Ogden and Nikolas Motta battle it out to see who can get back to the winner’s circle. Both men are just 1-2 in their first three fights with the promotion and need to pick it up if they want to have a long career inside the Octagon.

In the women’s Bantamweight division, Lucie Pudilova will battle Ailin Perez, who was able to pick up her first victory under the UFC banner by defeating Ashlee Evans-Smith this past summer after getting choked out in her UFC debut by Stephanie Egger. As for Pudilova, she is coming off a tough split-decision loss to Joselyne Edwards, which snapped her three-fight win streak.

At Bantamweight, Chad Anheliger will look to get back on track after his 10-fight win streak was snapped by Heili Alateng over a year ago. That’s a long time to be on the sidelines, but Anheliger is ready to get back into the swing of things against Jose Johnson, who is win-less under the UFC banner after coming up short against Da’Mon Blackshear in his UFC debut.

Jonathan Pearce is one of the hottest fighters at 145 pounds that no one seems to be talking about. All he has done is rack up five straight wins with three stoppages, a good bounce back after suffering a TKO loss at the hands of Joe Lauzon in his UFC debut. He will go for consecutive win number six when he battles Joanderson Brito, who is on a nice run himself, having won three in a row, all via first-round stoppage.

Who Needs A Win Badly:

There aren’t too many fighters on the chopping block at the moment, but Amanda Ribas definitely needs a win to prevent falling further down the ladder. She is only 3-3 in her last six fights and hasn’t been able to garner much consistency over the last three years. She is coming off a tough loss at the hands of Maycee Barber, so if she loses her second straight fight she could find herself out of the Top 10. She will be facing off against Luana Pinhiero, who is scorching hot with a nine-fight win streak.

Interest Level: 5.5/10

In the co-main event, Michael Morales will take on Jake Matthews in what is sure to be a highly-competitive and entertaining Welterweight affair. Morales has quickly become a rising star with the promotion after winning his first three fights under the UFC banner, which includes back-to-back TKO wins over Trevin Giles and Adam Fugitt to improve his record to 15-0, 3-0 UFC.

He will have a tough road block on his way to his sixteenth straight win against Matthews, who admittedly has been a tad bit inconsistent as of late, alternating wins and losses for the last three years. He is coming off a big win over Darrius Flowers, submitting him this past summer.

Chase Hooper came into UFC with his fair share of hype. At the time of his debut back in 2019, he had just turned 20 years old and was coming in with an 8-0-1 record. He won his Octagon debut by knocking out Daniel Teymur at UFC 245, however, he hasn’t been able to pick up much steam by going an even 3-3 with no back-to-back wins to speak of. He is coming off a win over Nick Fiore, so he has his chance to pick up his first win streak under the UFC umbrella when he takes on Jordan Leavitt…assuming he makes it to the cage. Leavitt is coming off a TKO win over Victor Martinez and is a respectable 4-2 inside the Octagon.

It’s a decent fight card as we head into the holiday weekend, so enjoy it because the promotion will be on break until Dec. 2, 2023 and will close out the year with three more events.

Full UFC Vegas 82 Fight Card:

UFC Vegas 82 Main Event On ESPN+:

185 lbs.: Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig

UFC Vegas 82 Main Card on ESPN+ (5 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Michael Morales vs. Jake Matthews
155 lbs.: Chase Hooper vs. Jordan Leavitt
135 lbs.: Payton Talbott vs. Nick Aguirre
115 lbs.: Amanda Ribas vs. Luana Pinheiro
170 lbs.: Myktybek Orolbai vs. Uros Medic

UFC Vegas 82 ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN+ (2 p.m. ET):

145 lbs.: Jonathan Pearce vs. Joanderson Brito
135 lbs.: Chad Anheliger vs. Jose Johnson
185 lbs.: Cesar Almeida vs. Christian Leroy Duncan – CANCELED
265 lbs.: Mick Parkin vs. Caio Machado
145 lbs.: Lucas Alexander vs Jeka Saragih
135 lbs.: Lucie Pudilova vs. Ailin Perez
155 lbs.: Trey Ogden vs. Nikolas Motta
125 lbs.: Charles Johnson vs. Rafael Estevam

*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 82 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 5 p.m. ET.

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