Following a spectacular Perth card, the octagon returns to Nevada for UFC Vegas 96 featuring a middleweight banger between former title contender Jared Cannonier and young & coming sensation, Caio Borralho. ‘The Natural’ heads into the fight with an unblemished record of eight straight wins and according to Marca.com, Saturday’s bout is expected to get him an estimated payday ranging from $100,000 to $150,000.
More importantly, Saturday’s bout will be a significant one for Borralho since the event will mark his first main event appearance since his debut performance in the promotion in 2021.
Meanwhile, for ‘Killa Gorilla‘, who is coming off of a TKO loss against Nassourdine Imavov, this will be the opportunity to rack up a generous payday.
UFC Vegas 96 main card! Rate from 1-10! 🔥 #UFCVegas96 pic.twitter.com/VUE9EvsPIN
— DiaztwinsMMA (@DiaztwinsMMA) August 19, 2024
This is if he secures a brilliant finish and bags the $50k along with his expected purse of $282,000, considering that this was what he earned against Adesanya.
Nevertheless, the fight night promises a lot of excitement for the fans given the stacked fight card, especially with the grand finale of the last season of the TUF.
UFC Vegas 96 fight card detailed
The main event as mentioned above is scheduled between perennial contender, Cannonier, and undefeated Caio Borralho.
As the Brazilian looks to better his position in the standings and climb upwards, former Invicta FC strawweight champion, Angela Hill is also making a return to the octagon.
She is slated to clash heads with #11 ranked contender Tabitha Ricci in the co-main event. 39-year-old Hill will enter the cage with the momentum of her two-fight winning streak.
In fact, she is coming off her first submission win against Luana Pinheiro via a guillotine choke. After Saturday’s ordeal, Hill will become only the second woman in the history of the promotion to register 25 appearances, joining fellow strawweight, Jessica Andrade.
On the other hand, Brazil’s Ricci is looking to add another one to the W column, extending her winning streak to two after downing Tecia Pennington in her last via a split-decision win.
In addition to these scraps, the matchmakers have also put together two TUF 32 finale fights – one in the middleweight between Ryan Loder & Robert Valentin and the other being a featherweight bout between Kaan Ofli vs. Mairon Santos.
Furthermore, top 15 welterweight Neil Magny also makes a return, taking on Ecuador’s Michael Morales at 170 lbs. Last but not least, Gerald Meerschaert riding the momentum of his last win will aim to add one more, taking on Edmen Shahbazyan in Saturday’s main card opener.
