UFC undercard overview: Bryce Mitchell facing super prospect Luna

Before former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad and streaking 170-pound contender Gabriel Bonfim step into the cage for their UFC Fight Night main event matchup, 22 other fighters are also scheduled to compete at the Meta Apex this weekend.

Among the main card matchups is a featured bantamweight contest between an established name with 21 fights on his record and one of the best young prospects on the UFC roster, who’s entering just his ninth pro bout.

Bryce Mitchell will be looking for his second win since moving down in weight when he faces 21-year-old Santiago Luna of Mexico.

Mitchell debuted at 135 pounds last summer with a win over Said Nurmagomedov in Abu Dhabi after a decade competing at 145 pounds.

The 31-year-old from Arkansas is a dominant and skilled grappler whose only losses up at a higher weight limit were to Ilia Topuria, Jean Silva and Josh Emmett, three of the most dangerous featherweight finishers in recent years.

Luna is 2-0 in the UFC since debuting in September and is replacing Victor Henry on less than two weeks’ notice.

This is a massive step up in competition for Luna, who finished his first seven opponents and is coming off a February decision win over Angel Pacheco.

Although he hasn’t received the same type of attention as fellow 21-year-old Mexican Raul Rosas Jr., who already boasts a 6-1 UFC record at his age, Luna might actually have the higher ceiling when it comes to championship potential.

Born in San Diego and raised in Tijuana, Luna was a Mexican national Greco-Roman wrestling champion before beginning his mixed martial arts career.

That strong wrestling base has allowed for his striking skills to progress nicely and that well-roundedness will be crucial for Luna against Mitchell. If Luna can dictate where the matchup takes place, in theory, he should have the advantage on the feet despite his relative lack of experience.

Will it end up being a “too much, too soon” matchup for Luna, or perhaps might we see a new star emerge this weekend?

Mismatch in co-main? A middleweight matchup between Brendan Allen and Edmen Shahbazyan is slated to serve as the co-main event, and it’s a somewhat puzzling matchup considering where each fighter stands within the 185-pound division. Allen is the No. 4-ranked contender coming off a stoppage win over Reinier de Ridder in an October Fight Night main event. Meanwhile, Shahbazyan is unranked but he is riding a three-fight winning streak from 2025 that included a knockout of Andre Muniz at UFC 320. Stylistically, this could also be a nightmare matchup for Shahbazyan since Allen is an excellent grappler and Shahbazyan was dominated on the ground in all five of his UFC losses.

Allen repping new colours again: Sticking with Allen for a second, the American will be wearing a different fight kit for a third consecutive outing. Allen is from Louisiana so he typically wears fight kits that have a red, white and blue colour palette with an American flag. He wore that kit when he fought in his home state last summer at UFC 318 in New Orleans. In Vancouver this past October, Allen wore a red and white Canadian fight kit because his maternal grandparents are from Canada. Now on Saturday, Allen will be wearing green and yellow to represent Brazil because his wife is Brazilian and two of his children are half-Brazilian.

Brendan Allen, man of the world.

Lanky lightweights: A sneaky great matchup on this card is between 155-pounders Fares Ziam and Tom Nolan, both of whom are on a roll. France’s Ziam, 29, is ranked No. 15 and is the current lightweight rankings gatekeeper. The six-foot-one Ziam has won six in a row, including impressive knockouts of Nazim Sadykhov and Matt Frevola. Australia’s Nolan, 26, is on a four-fight streak and is coming off his first submission win when he beat Charlie Campbell in September with a rear-naked choke. 

Will we see Iwo in Round 2? Don’t blink during this one. Unbeaten light-heavyweight finisher Iwo Baraniewski will seek his ninth consecutive first-round stoppage victory when he meets Junior Tafa to open the main card. Baraniewski’s fights rarely make it past three minutes let alone require three rounds, and Tafa is only 7-5 in MMA with four stoppage losses.

Baraniewski is an aggressive brawler with KO power, but he’s also a talented judoka, so we could see some of those skills against an opponent in Tafa who has limited ground skills.

In fairness to the underdog, Tafa is also a knockout artist coming off a good win just over a month ago in Perth, and he replaced Billy Elekana on short notice for this opportunity to hand Baraniewski a first loss. The 205-pound division is always looking for new stars, and so far, Baraniewski has proven to be a must-watch talent.

Projected bout order for UFC Fight Night: Muhammad vs. Bonfim below:

MAIN CARD

-- Belal Muhammad vs. Gabriel Bonfim

-- Brendan Allen vs. Edmen Shahbazyan

-- Fares Ziam vs. Tom Nolan

-- Bryce Mitchell vs. Santiago Luna

-- Iwo Baraniewski vs. Junior Tafa

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Matt Schnell vs. Alessandro Costa

-- Marcus McGhee vs. John Yannis

-- Bruno Silva vs. Edgar Chairez

-- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Chelsea Chandler

-- Jordan Leavitt vs. Joanderson Brito

-- Jeisla Chaves vs. Yuneisy Duben

-- Ketlen Souza vs. Ariane Carnelossi