UFC Vegas 74 marks the start of June and what will be an amazing summer for the UFC. The card has everything you’d want from top to bottom, exciting new prospects, veteran matchups, and a title eliminator. Between the fireworks to come from Kara-France and Albazi, the two most tenured UFC fighters in action, or the debuts of some hot new prospects, these are our five reasons why you should watch UFC Vegas 74.
Flyweight Title Eliminator
A crucial flyweight title eliminator goes down Saturday at UFC Vegas 74. Rising prospect Amir Albazi looks to lay his claim for a title shot against the war-tested Kai Kara-France. Albazi has handled every UFC opponent this far with relative ease, resulting in a 4-0 record that includes 3 finishes. Albazi has also been fairly unlucky in his UFC tenure, with four opponents pulling out of fights against him. Because of this, he has yet to face someone on the level of Kai Kara-France. Kara-France is coming off a loss to Brandon Moreno at UFC 277 for the interim flyweight championship but had been on an impressive three-fight win streak prior. Kara-France has only lost to some of the best flyweights in the world while in the UFC, so this is a great test to see how Albazi can handle a top flyweight. Both men are known to put on exciting fights and produce highlight-reel finishes, so expect fireworks in this one.
Miller and Arlovski Add to Their Record
The two fighters with the most fights in UFC history will fight on the same card for the 3rd time. Jim Miller is set to face UFC newcomer Jesse Butler in what will be his 42nd UFC fight in 15 years. Andrei Arlovski is set to fight Don’Tale Mayes in what will be his 40th UFC fight in 16 nonconsecutive years in the promotion. Both men are coming off losses in their last fights but had both been on impressive win streaks prior. Miller looks to get back in the win column after suffering a loss to Alexander Hernandez back in February. Prior to that loss, he had picked up three big finishes, including one over Donald Cerrone. Arlovski hasn’t been able to finish fights like Miller but was able to rack up four straight decision wins. The 44-year-old was able to outclass four different, younger opponents with over a ten plus year age gap in every fight. He is however coming off a tough loss to Marcos Rogerio de Lima where he was dropped and then submitted. The 44-year-old doesn’t have much time left inside the octagon, so we have to enjoy every second while we can.
Brazilian Prospects Match Up in a Battle of Finishers
An incredible matchup between two women at 125 also goes down Saturday night with Karine Silva taking on Ketlen Souza. Silva has finished all 15 of her wins with eight coming by KO and seven coming by submission. Last time out she picked up a clean submission win with a D’arce choke over Poliana Botelho. Ketlen Souza is the Invicta FC flyweight champion, coming into this fight with a win in five straight. Souza has finished nine of her 13 wins and will be making her UFC debut this weekend. Both women represent opposite sides of Brazil and will mark another spectacular clash between Brazilians in the UFC. These women also represent the future talent that is upcoming in some of these women’s divisions with some high-level skill.
Tim Elliot’s Wild Fight Camp
Tim Elliot has made many headlines in the buildup to his UFC Vegas 74 fight. First, his scheduled opponent Allan Nascimento pulled out of the fight, being replaced by Victor Altamirano not long after. Elliot then released a series of tweets about his now ex-wife Gina Mazany, revealing she had an affair with his best friend and training partner, Kevin Croom. This blew up across social media, reaching nine million views on Twitter before eventually being taken down by Elliot. Elliot said he’s received lots of support since the post and hopes to translate his anger into a win. Mackenzie Dern recently fought coming off of a divorce and looked better than ever, so let’s hope Elliot has the same reaction to his situation.
Tajikistan’s Big Stage
Tajikistan has produced little UFC talent so far, with the only fighters on the roster being Nurullo Aliev and Loik Radzhabov. That changes this weekend with the debuts of Tajik prospects Muhammadjon Naimov and Muin Gafurov. Naimov and Gafurov will fight back-to-back on Saturday night to also become the first pair of Tajik fighters to fight on the same card in the UFC. Gafurov stepped in for the injured Mateus Mendonca and takes on a tough opponent in John Castaneda. Gafurov has experience against former UFC fighters John Lineker and Leandro Issa and looks to avenge his 2021 DWCS loss to Chad Anheliger. Naimov will also look to avenge a DWCS loss he had to Collin Anglin in 2020. He steps in for Guram Kutateladze on just 5 days’ notice to face Australia’s Jamie Mullarkey, a matchup that will catapult him to right outside the rankings with a win.
Let us know what you think about UFC Vegas 74: Kara-France vs Albazi in the comments below.
Featured image credits to UFC
