UFC Vegas 61 | Three Fighters Flying Under The Radar

The UFC returns to the Apex this Saturday for UFC Vegas 61, with a card headlined by Mackenzie Dern and Xiaonan Yan in a huge fight at strawweight. The card also features names such as Randy Brown, Francisco Trinaldo and Sodiq Yusuff, but looking a little further down the card, there are some names that fans should be keeping an eye on.

Chelsea Chandler

Chelsea Chandler makes the step up for her UFC debut this Saturday on a run of four wins on the bounce since her lone professional loss in her pro debut. She has spent her entire pro career in Invicta, and at 4-1, the 209-native is making the step up to the UFC, albeit at a lower weight. She faces Julija Stoliarenko at a 140lb catchweight fight, as she likely gradually makes the transition to 135lb. Stoliarenko has had her own struggles on the scale so both fighters could make the jump up to the fledgling 145lb division in the near future. With two finishes in her four pro wins, the protégé of the Diaz brothers and Cesar Gracie is a -105 in this pick ‘em fight. The oddsmakers can’t choose, but if she can pull out a win against an opponent that has shown promise in the past, it will put here in a good position to rise up the 135 and 145lb divisions.

Mike Davis

“Beast Boy” makes his very long-awaited return to the octagon this weekend after a string of injuries and bad luck has kept him away from the octagon since his exciting win over Mason Jones in January 2021. Davis brings his exciting stand-up style to the cage for an interesting stylistic match up against “Slava Claus” Viacheslav Borshchev. This fight promises to be a fast-paced, action-packed stand-up battle for fifteen minutes or less. The question mark coming in is that layoff from Davis, but he looks in excellent shape having given his body time to heal, and as a -175 favourite, is expected to get it done against a tricky operator in Borshchev.

John Castañeda

“Sexi Mexi” comes into his fourth UFC outing on the back of two finishes, a first round TKO of veteran Eddie Wineland and a submission over Miles Johns, and is looking to continue this momentum as he takes on Daniel Santos. Santos is coming off a tough decision loss in his UFC debut to Julio Arce and will see Castañeda as an opportunity to get that first win. Castañeda is a prolific finisher, both in the UFC and previously, and Santos has never been finished, so this in itself makes it an incredibly interesting affair on Saturday night at the Apex. Castañeda comes in as a small favourite at -190.

How do you think the three athletes will fair at UFC Vegas 61? Drop your fight predictions below.