The Octagon heads to Golden 1 Center — the home of the NBA’s Kings — in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday for a UFC Fight Night card featuring 12 fights, including a five-round middleweight headliner between Anthony Hernandez and Gregory Rodrigues.
With many exciting fights on the card, let’s take a look at the biggest storylines heading into it.
Middleweight contenders clash in main event
The main event of UFC Sacramento is a five-round middleweight matchup between two of the top-10-ranked fighters in the weight class, Anthony Hernandez and Gregory Rodrigues.
Hernandez, better known as “Fluffy,” is coming off a knockout loss to Sean Strickland at UFC Houston earlier this year, snapping his eight-fight win streak.
Despite that defeat, however, Hernandez remains one of the top-ranked middleweights in the sport today, and a win over Rodrigues would put him right back into title contention at 185 pounds.
Of course, winning this fight won’t be easy because Rodrigues is a stud himself. The Brazilian has won six of his last seven fights and has won seven fights by knockout overall during his UFC career, as he truly has immense power in his hands.
This is a massive fight in the UFC middleweight division, as the winner will remain a top title contender, while the loser will have a hard time getting back to the top of the weight class.
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Heavyweights bang it out in co-main event
The co-main event on Saturday is a heavyweight matchup between Serghei Spivac and Vitor Petrino.
Spivac has pretty much fought everyone since he first joined the organization in 2019 for UFC Fight Night: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy, which took place in Ottawa.
The big Moldovan has been inconsistent over the years, holding a 9-6 record in the octagon, but he is coming off a big win over Ante Delija and will be looking to make it two straight victories.
As for Petrino, the Brazilian bruiser moved up to heavyweight last year, and it looks like a terrific career decision as he has won three straight fights and is closing in on the division’s elite.
The fact that this fight is the co-main event is telling, as the UFC likely wants Petrino to win and become a new title contender at heavyweight, though big Spivac will look to play spoiler.
Women’s flyweight contender Carli Judice back in action
The UFC is always looking for new stars in the women’s weight classes, and one of them could be Louisiana native Carli Judice, who takes on Jeisla Chaves in a women’s flyweight bout.
Judice was a graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, and since then, she is 3-1 in the UFC with two knockout wins and three post-fight bonuses overall. She is a very exciting fighter who prefers to stand on her feet and bang it out with her opponent for the fans’ delight.
As for Chaves, she is also a Contender Series veteran who won her UFC debut earlier this year against Yuneisy Duben by split decision. A former MMA ring card girl-turned-MMA fighter, Chaves has that dog in her, and she should be a tough, durable opponent for Judice. But her rival is the far more decorated striker, which is why Judice enters this bout as a huge favorite.
Dana White's Contender Series
Fighters compete weekly with potential UFC contracts on the line. Watch Season 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series live Tuesdays on Sportsnet+ and Sportsnet 360.
Dana White's Contender Series
Former NFL player Anthony Wint making UFC debut
Speaking of Contender Series, former New York Jets linebacker Anthony Wint makes his UFC debut — fresh off a knockout win on the show last week against Matt Adams — when he battles Terrance Chatman at heavyweight in the opening main card bout at UFC Sacramento.
The 30-year-old Wint played two games in the NFL for the Jets in 2018, and he transitioned into MMA after his football career ended. So far, the results have been spectacular, as Wint is a perfect 7-0 with six knockout wins, including a 34-second KO on Contender Series, which earned him a UFC contract and the opportunity to make a name for himself in a different sport.
Wint told Dana White that he wanted to get back into the cage ASAP, so the UFC president did what Wint wanted and quickly moved to book him against Chatman, also a promotional newcomer.
Though you have to give Chatman credit for taking this fight against a blue-chip heavyweight prospect like Wint, it’s unlikely to go well for him, as Wint is a 10-to-1 favourite to win.
Featherweight knockout artists Lerryan Douglas, Marcio Barbosa return
On the preliminary card, we have two exciting featherweight fighters stepping back into the cage as Lerryan Douglas and Marcio Barbosa look to keep up their winning ways inside the octagon.
Douglas is part of the headliner of the preliminary card when he takes on UFC veteran Jamall Emmers. Douglas spectacularly won his UFC debut earlier this year when he knocked out Julian Erosa, and overall he has won six straight fights, with all those wins coming by TKO.
As for Barbosa, he is also coming off a knockout win in his UFC debut, defeating Dennis Buzukja, and he has won five straight fights, with all of those recent victories being knockouts.
The UFC is clearly trying to set up both Douglas and Barbosa with another knockout win each here, as the promotion looks to keep building up its new stars in the featherweight division.
Overall, UFC Sacramento looks like a strong card on paper. All the action goes down on Saturday, with broadcast coverage beginning on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+ at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT.
