LAS VEGAS — The UFC will fire up its Apex facility for the fifth consecutive weekend Saturday with a UFC Fight Night main event featuring Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker.
Poirier (25-6) will be making his first appearance since a failed lightweight title bid against Khabib Nurmagomedov in September. Nurmagomedov won by third-round submission in Abu Dhabi.
Hooker (20-8) will be fighting for the second time this year. He’s coming off a split decision win against Paul Felder in February. It was a brutal fight, which many thought Felder won. Both men were taken to the hospital after although neither sustained serious injuries.
ESPN ranks Poirier and Hooker the Nos. 4 and 5 lightweights in the world, respectively, going into this five-round main event. The winner will turn his attention to the tittle picture, which will gain clarity later this summer when Nurmagomedov looks to unify the title against interim champ Justin Gaethje. Will Saturday’s winner get a title shot? Will Conor McGregor stay retired or fight the Nurmagomedov-Gaethje winner? If Nurmagomedov wins, will Tony Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov happen on the sixth attempt? Lots of questions for down the road.
In Saturday’s co-main event, Mike Perry faces Mickey Gall in a fight with a potentially interesting twist as Perry has said his girlfriend, Latory Gonzalez — who has no MMA or fighting expertise — will be the only person in his corner. Perry, a 28-year-old action fighter, has lost five of his past seven fights.
Gall (6-2) has won two of his past three bouts. The New Jersey native is most known for being the man who submitted CM Punk in the former WWE champion’s UFC debut in 2016. Gall, 28, has not fought since a unanimous decision win over Salim Touahri last August.
Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim will recap the action throughout the night.
Fight in progress
Heavyweight: Philipe Lins (14-4, 0-1 UFC, -110) vs. Tanner Boser (17-6-1, 1-1 UFC, -110)
Results
Strawweight: Kay Hansen (6-3, 0-0 UFC, -175) defeats Jinh Yu Frey (9-4, 0-0 UFC, +155) by third-round armbar
Recap to come.
Regardless of result if Hansen can avoid knee surgery and keep her cervical/lumbar healthy she’ll most likely be a champion within 5yrs. Mature, fast twitch and calm.
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) June 27, 2020
Featherweight: Youssef Zalal (9-2, 2-0 UFC) defeats Jordan Griffin (18-8, 1-3 UFC)
Zalal dealt with some challenges. He had a hard time keeping Griffin from taking him down. He spent too much time with Griffin pressing him against the cage.
But when the fight was standing at distance, Zalal was the clearly better fighter. The judges felt the same, giving Zalal a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) win.
Griffin took Zalal down several times in the first round and had his back twice, briefly. It seemed like a fight in which Griffin would bully Zalal. That didn’t happen. Zalal rallied in the second round with a perfect straight right to the body that all but folded Griffin. Griffin fell to the canvas and Zalal followed up with hammer fists to the head before Griffin scrambled to his feet.
Not bad for a twenty-three year old! 😈@MoroccanDevil35 gets his second win in the Octagon. #UFCVegas4 pic.twitter.com/NzZQ6W9uTS
— UFC (@ufc) June 27, 2020
In the third, Zalal got off even more with his strikes. Once he pushed Griffin back off the cage, Zalal landed a nice knee to the body, an elbow and a punching combination. Griffin, clearly tired by that time due to energy spent and shots to the body, wasn’t able to dominate on the ground as he had earlier.
Zalal (9-2) has won three straight, including his first two UFC fights. The Morocco native, who lives and trains in Colorado, made his UFC debut with a unanimous decision win over Austin Lingo at UFC 247 in February. Zalal, just 23 years old, appears to be someone to watch in the featherweight division.
Griffin (18-8), a 30-year-old Wisconsin resident, has dropped three of his past four.
— Raimondi
Still to come:
Lightweight: Dustin Poirier (25-6, 1 NC; 17-5, 1 NC UFC, -220) vs. Dan Hooker (20-8; 10-4 UFC, +185)
Welterweight: Mike Perry (13-6, 6-6 UFC, -320) vs. Mickey Gall (6-2, 5-2 UFC, +260)
Heavyweight: Gian Villante (17-11, 7-8 UFC, +175) vs. Maurice Greene (8-5, 3-2 UFC, -200)
Middleweight: Brendan Allen (14-3, 3-0 UFC, -310) vs. Kyle Daukaus (9-0, 0-0 UFC, +255)
Heavyweight: Jason Witt (17-5, 0-0 UFC, +110) vs. Takashi Sato (15-3, 1-1 UFC, -139)
Catchweight (150 pounds): Sean Woodson (7-0, 1-0 UFC, -556) vs. Julian Erosa (23-9, 0-3 UFC, +400)
Lightweight: Luis Pena (8-2, 4-2 UFC, -230) vs. Khama Worthy (15-6, 1-0 UFC, +195)