Zalal.
The Marc Montoya protégé faces perhaps his most difficult test to
date and tries to move one step closer to contention in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division when he
toes the line against Aljamain
Sterling in the
UFC Fight Night 274 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. Zalal, 29, steps into the spotlight on the strength of a
career-best eight-fight winning streak that now spans more than
1,200 days. He last saw action at UFC 320, where he put away
Team Alpha Male’s Josh Emmett
with an armbar a mere 98 seconds into their Oct. 4 encounter. It
was Zalal’s fastest finish as a pro and propelled him into the Top
10 rankings at 145 pounds.
A 13-fight lineup at UFC Fight Night 274 features several fighters
on the rise, with Zalal at the front of the line. Four others to
monitor:
Joselyne
Edwards
Violent predispositions have made Edwards impossible to ignore. The
Panamanian hunts her latest potential victim when she zeroes in on
Norma
Dumont in a three-round women’s bantamweight co-main event that
provides a platform for two would-be contenders at 135 pounds.
After a rather non-descript start to her UFC tenure, Edwards has
hit the accelerator and pieced together a run of four straight
victories. All four have resulted in finishes, highlighted by
first-round knockouts of Chelsea
Chandler and Priscila
Cachoeira. Edwards, 30, last suited up on Feb. 21, when she
dispatched Nora
Cornolle with a rear-naked choke midway through the second
round of their UFC Fight Night 267 pairing. The
Kings MMA rep held titles in the King of
the Cage and Panama Fight League promotions prior to her arrive
in the UFC.
Michelle
Montague
Montague may carry the late-bloomer tag, but she certainly appears
ready, willing and able to make up for lost time. The undefeated
American Top Team-trained Kiwi draws her second assignment
inside the Octagon when she takes on Mayra
Bueno Silva in a three-round women’s bantamweight prelim.
Montague, 32, moves back into view with a perfect 7-0 record in
tow. The
Professional Fighters League alum last strapped on the gloves
at UFC Fight Night 260, where she outpointed Luana
Carolina to a unanimous decision across three rounds on Sept.
27. Montague, the first woman from New Zealand to compete in the
UFC, did not start her formal training until she was 20 years
old.
Adrian
Luna Martinetti
Martinetti was a relative unknown until he appeared on
Dana White’s Contender Series and emerged as the last man
standing in a remarkable 15-minute firefight with Mark
Vologdin on Oct. 7. The 30-year-old Entram
Gym product makes his anticipated promotional debut opposite
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 18 finalist Davey Grant
in a three-round bantamweight attraction. Martinetti, a star on the
regional circuit in his native Mexico, enters the Octagon armed
with an impressive 17-1 record and the wind of a 15-fight winning
streak at his back. The ex-Ultimate Warrior Challenge champion has
secured more than half (10) of his 17 career victories by knockout,
technical knockout or submission.
Jafel
Filho
Though he has yet to fully take off in the 125-pound weight class,
Filho continues to show signs of development. The
Nova Uniao rep seeks his second win in as many outings when he
locks horns with Cody
Durden—a late-notice replacement for Lucas
Rocha—in a three-round flyweight battle on the undercard.
Filho, 32, last competed on Oct. 11, when he dismissed Clayton
Carpenter with a kimura in the first round of their UFC Fight
Night 261 confrontation. The former Shooto
Brazil champion now boasts 16 finishes among his 17
professional victories, nine of the first-round variety. Filho
punched his ticket to the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series in
2022.