UFC Vegas 101 Went Through Some Last Minute Changes
01/05/2025 06:00 AM
Last-minute pullouts didn't get left in 2024 ...
UFC Vegas 101, aka the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 'Fight Night' of 2025, goes down next weekend (Sat., Jan. 11, 2025) from inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will be headlined by Top 15 Strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas.
Yesterday (Sat., Jan. 4, 2025), two fights on the UFC Vegas 101 "Prelims" got changed due to injuries and visa issues.
Season eight Contender Series contract winner Jacobe Smith replaces fellow contract winner Andreas Gustafsson and will now fightPreston Parsons. MMA Junkie first reported the news.
Smith (9-0) is a former high-level Oklahoma State wrestler and one of the best prospects to emerge from this last season of Contender Series. The 28-year-old is coming off a brutal stoppage of Christien Savoie that clinched him a contract and holds a 78% finish rate with seven knockouts.
There is a good chance Smith will be the biggest betting favorite on the card.
Parsons (11-5) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Oban Elliott at UFC 304 and has alternated wins and losses his entire UFC career. "Pressure" has a 2-3 record in the promotion.
UFC veteran Joe Solecki is stepping in for Yanal Ashmouz and will fight Nurullo Alievin the first official UFC fight of 2025. Aliev announced the fight on his social media.
Solecki (13-5) is riding his career's first two-fight losing streak. In his last outing, he was bested by Grant Dawson at UFC 302, and before that, Drakkar Klose viciously knocked him out with a slam (watch highlights).
Aliev (9-0) has not been seen since his UFC debut two years ago, when he defeated Rafael Alves via majority decision. "Tajik Eagle" has a ton of hype, so hopefully, he will have an active year.
With the additions of the new fights, here is the official UFC Vegas 101 fight card.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
Carlston Harris vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cesar Almeida
Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov
Austin Bashi vs. Christian Rodriguez
Uros Medic vs. Puna Soriano
Ihor Potieira vs. Marco Tulio
Thiago Moises vs. Trey Ogden
Preston Parsons vs. Jacobe Smith
Nicolle Caliari vs. Ernesta Kareckaite
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes
Victoria Dudakova vs. Fatima Kline
Nurullo Aliev vs. Joe Solecki
To checkout UFC's upcoming schedule of events click here.
