UFC Vegas 84, Random Land! 16 Tidbits, Facts And Storylines

After a three-week break with no Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion is returns this weekend (Sat., Jan. 13, 2024) for the first fight card of 2024, which will take place inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. In UFC Vegas 84’s main event, No. 3-ranked Light Heavyweight, Magomed Ankalaev, takes on No. 7-seeded Johnny Walker.

For an Apex “Fight Night,” the card is actually pretty fun, with interesting matches throughout. So, before it goes down on ESPN+, let’s check out some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of showtime …

Running It Back

Let’s start with the obvious: Ankalaev and Walker are rematching each other after their first fight ended in a dreaded “No Contest” at UFC 294 when Ankalaev kneed Walker in the head (watch highlights), and the Brazilian couldn’t continue (well, he was able to, but the doctor in Abu Dhabi screwed up the translation).

Title Fight On The Line?

There has been no official talk of the main event between Ankalaev vs. Walker being a No. 1 contender eliminator match; however, both fighters told MMAMania.com that with a win, they will be fighting Light Heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira.

Ankalaev has long been believed to be the next Russian champion, but bad luck (and this) has delayed that journey. Since his UFC debut, he hasn’t lost and is riding a nine-fight win streak with a draw and the aforementioned “No Contest” thrown into the mix.

Walker also had a lot of hype when he entered UFC, but a few losses throughout the years derailed that train. The Brazilian is now riding a three-fight win streak and is the closest he’s been to a title since UFC 244.

Main Events

UFC Vegas 84 will be both Ankalaev and Walker’s third main event. Walker headlined the Apex twice, while Ankalaev headlined the Apex and UFC 282. And if you remember, both Ankalaev and Walker had a horrendous first main event, funny enough, both against Thiago Santos.

Kape Fumbles The Bag (And Title)

Kape told MMAMania.com at UFC Vegas 84 that he plans to knock out Nicolau and become the rightful No. 1 contender for Pantoja’s Flyweight championship. Well, he missed weight by 3.5 lbs on Friday, and his fight was canceled.

Damn you, MMA Gods.

Jim’ UFC 300′ Miller

Jim Miller returns this weekend for his 43rd UFC fight against Gabriel Benetiz, and while the fight is going to be super fun for as long as it lasts, everyone is already looking toward Miller’s next fight.

Miller confirmed at UFC Vegas 84 media day that he will fight at UFC 300 no matter what! Even if he is injured.

Rebooked

Miller and Benetiz were supposed to fight last February. However, the Mexican fighter got injured and had to pull out. Miller went on to fight Alexander Hernandez but lost a unanimous decision, which snapped his three-fight win streak.

Best Fight On The Card

The best fight on UFC Vegas 84 is a Bantamweight bout between Ricky Simon and Mario Bautista and is a shoo-in for Fight of the Night. Both bantamweights are great grapplers, so there is a good chance they will showcase their striking. However, if they do wrestle, it will be glorious.

Baustisa is riding a five-fight win streak, while Simon is coming off a loss to Song Yadong, who snapped his own five-fight win streak.

Bautista Gets His Shot

Speaking of Bautista, he has been asking for a Top 15 opponent for several fights now, but for whatever reason, he wasn’t getting one; he finally got his shot this weekend against No. 13 Simon. Bautista was scheduled against former Top 15 and champion Cody Garbrandt at UFC 292, but the fight got scrapped.

Teammates

One last thing about Bautista is that his MMA Lab teammate Marcus McGhee fights this weekend against Gaston Bolanos.

Welcome To UFC!

Two fighters are making their UFC debut this weekend at UFC Vegas 84.

• Jean Silva (11-2) faces Westin Wilson. Silva is coming off a contract-winning performance on season seven of Contender Series against Kevin Vallejos, where he actually snapped his 100% finish rate. Besides his one decision win, he has ten finishes, eight being via knockout.
• Tom Nolan (6-0) takes on Nikolas Motta. Nolan also comes off a contract-winning performance on season seven of Contender Series against Bogdan Grad. Nolan hails from Australia and has four knockout wins, three coming in the first round.

Old Dog

Former UFC Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski returns to action this weekend against Waldo Cortes-Acosta for his 41st UFC fight.

Two fighters on the prelims weren’t even born before Arlovski’s professional debut in 1999: 22-year-old Josh Van and 23-year-old Nolan.

I wonder how he feels about that.

Short Notice Fights

Three fights on UFC Vegas 84 came together on less than a month’s notice.

• Matthew Semelsberger stepped in to fight Preston Parsons, replacing Bassil Hafez.
• Silva stepped in to fight Wilson, replacing Gabriel Santos.
• Van stepped in to fight Felipe Bunes, replacing Denys Bondar.

Sold Out Arenas To The Apex

Farid Basharat and Van have had both of their UFC fights inside sold-out arenas and now, for their third fight in the promotion, they fight in the Apex. Wa hoooo.

Winners And Losers

Twelve fighters are coming off wins, while seven are coming off losses. Three are coming off a no-contest (Ankalaev, Walker, Motta)

Multi-Divisions

Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:

• One Heavyweight fight
• One Light Heavyweight fight
• One Middleweight fight
• One Welterweight fight
• Two Lightweight fights
• One Featherweight fight
• Three Bantamweight fights
• One Flyweight fight

Beta Dog

According to DraftKings, UFC Vegas 84’s “biggest” underdog is Wilson at +625.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 84 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 84: “Ankalaev vs. Walker 2” news and notes, be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.