UFC Vegas 93 Start time, Full Fight Card Details!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back inside the Apex later TONIGHT (Sat., June 15, 2024) to stage UFC Vegas 93 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Headlining the event will be a men’s Flyweight bout between Alex Perez vs. Tatsuro Taira. In the co-main event, Douglas Silva de Andrade takes on Miles Johns in a Bantamweight affair.

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What’s Hot:

The Flyweight division is still chugging along, but let’s be honest, without someone as charismatic as Brandon Moreno as champion, or without the rivalry between “Assassin Baby” and Deiveson Figueiredo making headlines, the division doesn’t exactly generate buzz. Division champion, Alexandre Pantoja, has defended his belt twice, once against Brandon Royval and then Steve Erceg, and not a peep was made about the significance it had on the mixed martial arts (MMA) landscape. Nevertheless, challengers are still trying to get to the title fight in order to be the man to bring some sense of intrigue and excitement to a division that has long been scrutinized as perhaps the worst under the UFC banner. For Alex Perez, he has already gone to the big dance once before, losing to the aforementioned Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 255. His road back has been a grueling one to say the least, losing his next two fights before getting back on track by defeating Matheus Nicolau via knockout (see it again here). Now, he will attempt to become the first man to hand Tatsuro Taira his first-ever defeat.

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Taira kicked off his career at 10-0 before getting the call up to the big show, and then proceeded to win his first five fights inside the Octagon to improve his record to a perfect 15-0 mark. Ranked No. 13 at the moment, the Japanese-born fighter is out to crack the Top 10 to inch closer to his first-ever UFC title shot. Defeating someone like Perez will be a huge boost, but if he wants to do that he will have to get his hands very dirty because that’s how Perez likes his bouts; a good old-fashioned brawl to see who the bully really is. Taira may be a bit more technical, however, so this fight should make for a good contest to see who emerges as a possible title contender.

What’s Not:

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This card isn’t exactly a home-run. Heck, it’s not even a double. It’s severely lacking intrigue thanks to the promotion failing to stick bigger names on the program. But that’s what the promotion has done a lot of lately, expecting you to eat a hot dog and call it caviar.

Original Card vs. Actual Card:

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The original main event was set to feature Alex Perez taking on Tagir Ulanbekov before the promotion decided to shake things up to have Perez face Taira while Ulanbekov will instead face Joshua Van. Speaking of which, Ulanbekov missed weight by a 3.5 pounds for his Flyweight bout against Van, forcing the promotion to cancel the fight during weigh ins.

Andrei Arlovski was in line to face off against Martin Buday in a Heavyweight bout on this card, but it will now take place at the upcoming UFC 303 pay-per-view (PPV) event on June 29, which is now expected to be headlined by Alex Pereira rematching Jiri Prochazka in a Light Heavyweight title fight.

Injuries:

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Andre Muniz was in line to face Ikram Aliskerov on this card before he was forced out with a foot injury. As a result, the promotion enlisted Antonio Trocoli to fill the void, before Aliskerov was pulled from the bout to face Robert Whittaker next Saturday after Khamzat Chimaev pulled out of the fight.

New Blood:

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Julia Polastri is one of two newcomers on this card. The rising Strawweight contender will attempt to get her UFC career off on the right foot when she tangos with Josefine Lindgren Knutsson, who is undefeated at 7-0, including winning her UFC debut. Polastri is 12-3 and is currently on a four-fight win streak, earning her way onto the UFC roster by defeating Patricia Alujas on the Contender Series. Fellow Contender Series alum, Carli Judice, will also be making her UFC debut at this event against Brazilian bomber Gabriella Fernandez, who finds herself on a two-fight losing streak.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look:

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We have already discussed half of the undercard action, so let’s take a deep dive at the three we have yet to discuss. In yet another 125-pound matchup, Jimmy Flick will battle Nate Maness in the new undercard headliner. Flick “The Brick” recently snapped his two-fight losing streak by defeating Malcolm Gordon at the beginning of the year. Prior to that, he suffered back-to-back defeats against Charles Johnson and Alessandro Costa. As for Maness, he also snapped his two-fight skid late last year by defeating Mateus Mendoca via first-round TKO.

Also, Mequizal Costa will battle the man with perhaps the hardest name to pronounce in combat sports in Nuerdanbieke Shayilan. “Wolverine” saw his three-fight win streak go out the window after losing to Steve Garcia via second round knockout over 14 months ago, and is now out to get back on track after a lengthy layoff.

As for Weston Wilson, he is 0-2 inside the Octagon, dropping his first two bouts with the promotion against Joanderson Brito and Jean Silva. He will take on Jeka Saragih, who picked up his first win under the UFC banner after stopping Lucas Alexander via strikes in the very first round seven months ago.

Who Needs A Win Badly:

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Josh Quinlan is in desperate need of a win. Quinlan is on a two-fight losing streak and is just 1-2 inside the Octagon. He is coming off a TKO loss to Danny Barlow and hopes to bounce back when he battles Adam Fugitt, who is coming off a defeat at the hands of Mike Malott. Quinlan did win his UFC debut via first-round knockout over Jason Witt, but his follow-up efforts have been less than stellar. With UFC, it’s “what have you done for me lately” that the promotion looks at when making cuts.

Interest Level: 4/10

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In the co-main event, Douglas Silva de Andrade will face Miles Johns in a Bantamweight affair. Andrade has been fighting for the promotion for a decade now and has yet to win more than two fights in a row. He hasn’t seen action in over a year, defeating Cody Stamann in May 2023. As for Johns, he has gone a respectable 5-2-1 under the UFC banner, though he, too, has yet to manage to earn a three-fight win streak with the promotion after starting his career 9-0 before making it to the big leagues.

In Featherweight action, Timothy Cuamba takes on Lucas Almeida. Cuamba failed to earn a win in his UFC debut earlier this year, losing to Bolaji Oki, which snapped his five-fight win streak. Almeida, meanwhile, finds himself the loser of two straight and could be on the chopping block with his third straight loss, which makes you wonder why he is on the main card with a streak like that.

In another 135-pound tilt, Brady Hiestand will attempt to pick up his third straight win with the promotion after stumbling out of the gates in his debut with a loss to Ricky Turcios. He takes on Garret Armfield, who is also on a two-fight win streak after losing his UFC debut, defeating Toshiomi Kazama and Brad Katona in back-to-back outings.

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Asu Almabayev has all the makings of being a future contender at 125 pounds, carrying with him a 15-fight win streak, which includes winning his first two UFC fights, into his bout against Jose Johnson, who is 1-1 with the promotion.

Enjoy the fights!

Full UFC Vegas 93 Fight Card:

UFC Vegas 93 Main Event On ESPN2/ESPN+:

125 lbs.: Alex Perez vs. Tatsuro Taira

UFC Vegas 93 Main Card on ESPN2/ESPN+ (10 p.m. ET):

135 lbs.: Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Miles Johns
145 lbs.: Timothy Cuamba vs. Lucas Almeida
135 lbs.: Brady Hiestand vs. Garrett Armfield
125 lbs.: Asu Almabayev vs. Jose Johnson
170 lbs.: Josh Quinlan vs. Adam Fugitt

UFC Vegas 93 ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN2/ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):

125 lbs.: Jimmy Flick vs. Nate Maness
125 lbs.: Carli Judice vs. Gabriella Fernandes
145 lbs.: Jeka Saragih vs. Westin Wilson
115 lbs.: Josefine Knutsson vs. Julia Polastri
145 lbs.: Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. Melquizael Costa

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MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 93 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” card matchups, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN2/ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 93 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Perez vs. Taira” fight card and ESPN2/ESPN+ lineup click here.