UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs. Zalal
Mixed martial arts event in 2026
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs. Zalal (also known as UFC Fight Night 274 and UFC Vegas 116) is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that is scheduled to take place on April 25, 2026, at the Meta Apex in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Valley, United States.[1]
| UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs. Zalal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs. Zalal | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | April 25, 2026 | |||
| Venue | Meta Apex | |||
| City | Enterprise, Nevada, United States | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
A welterweight bout between Sean Brady and Joaquin Buckley was originally scheduled to serve as the main event, but the pairing was re-scheduled to UFC 328 two weeks later.[1][2][3] The promotion then booked a featherweight bout between former UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling and Youssef Zalal as the event's new headliner.[4]
A women's bantamweight bout between former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion and UFC Women's Featherweight Championship challenger Yana Santos and Norma Dumont was scheduled to take place at the event.[5] Santos and Dumont had previously been scheduled to meet in January 2024 at UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Walker 2, but the bout was scrapped after Santos withdrew due to a broken nose.[6][7] In turn, Santos withdrew again (this time due to undisclosed reasons) and was replaced by Joselyne Edwards.[2]
A heavyweight bout between Max Gimenis and Allen Frye was scheduled for the event.[8] However, Frye withdrew for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Marcus Buchecha.[9] In turn, Gimenis withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by former LFA Light Heavyweight Champion Ryan Spann.[10]
A flyweight bout between Lucas Rocha and Jafel Filho was scheduled for the event.[11] However, Rocha withdrew for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Cody Durden on six days' notice in what will now be a bantamweight bout.[12]
Fight card
| Main card (Paramount+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Aljamain Sterling | vs. | Youssef Zalal | ||||
| Women's Bantamweight | Norma Dumont | vs. | Joselyne Edwards | ||||
| Lightweight | Rafa García | vs. | Alexander Hernandez | ||||
| Bantamweight | Davey Grant | vs. | Adrián Luna Martinetti | ||||
| Bantamweight | Montel Jackson | vs. | Raoni Barcelos | ||||
| Heavyweight | Marcus Buchecha | vs. | Ryan Spann | ||||
| Preliminary card (Paramount+) | |||||||
| Middleweight | Rodolfo Vieira | vs. | Eric McConico | ||||
| Women's Bantamweight | Mayra Bueno Silva | vs. | Michelle Montague | ||||
| Middleweight | Jackson McVey | vs. | Sedriques Dumas | ||||
| Bantamweight | Jafel Filho | vs. | Cody Durden | ||||
| Lightweight | Francis Marshall | vs. | Lucas Brennan | ||||
| Welterweight | Max Griffin | vs. | Victor Valenzuela | ||||
| Women's Strawweight | Talita Alencar | vs. | Julia Polastri | ||||
