UFC Fight Night on Sportsnet: Blanchfield, Fiorot aim to make statement

The upper echelon of the women’s flyweight division stays front and centre this weekend, mere days after Rose Namajunas picked up a statement win in the weight class against Amanda Ribas at the APEX.

Erin Blanchfield will have the crowd in her corner in her home state of New Jersey Saturday when the American faces France’s Manon Fiorot in a five-round UFC Fight Night main event at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Blanchfield is the No. 2-ranked contender at flyweight, 12-1 in mixed martial arts with her lone loss a split decision in her fourth pro bout. The 24-year-old is already 5-0 in the UFC with notable submission wins over Molly McCann and former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade plus a unanimous decision over one-time flyweight title challenger Taila Santos in her most recent appearance.

Fiorot, the No. 3-ranked contender at 125 pounds, is 11-1 in professional MMA with her lone loss a split decision in her pro debut.  The 34-year-old is 6-0 under the UFC banner and coming off a three round unanimous decision win over Namajunas. Prior to her win over the former 115-pound champ, Fiorot bested previous title challengers Katlyn Cerminara, Jennifer Maia prior and Mayra Bueno Silva in consecutive bouts, also by unanimous decisions.

Current flyweight champ Alexa Grasso and former longtime titleholder Valentina Shevchenko are expected to complete their trilogy later this year after serving as coaches on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series.

Blanchfield and Fiorot are both about as close to a title shot as you can get without there being a literal guarantee and a memorable victory, particularly an impressive stoppage, from either woman this Saturday could elevate them to being the clear choice for next up.

There is a decade age gap between the two athletes and a stark style contrast with Fiorot being a karate-style kickboxer and Blanchfield having a grappling-heavy base.

Both have beaten a variety of styles on their respective winning streaks, so Saturday could simply come down to who can impose their game plan more effectively and which fighter will need to make the more pressing mid-fight adjustments?

Blanchfield is currently ranked No. 4 in the women’s pound-for-pound rankings and is a slight betting favourite, while the underdog Fiorot is No. 6 on the women’s P4P list.

UNDERCARD OVERVIEW

Luque looking to join elite company: Vicente Luque and Sean Brady were originally rumoured to headline this event but when Brady sustained an injury before officially signing a bout agreement the organization decided to elevate Blanchfield vs. Fiorot and rebook Luque in a fun matchup with Joaquin Buckley in Saturday’s co-main event. Luque can tie former 170-pound great Matt Hughes with 16 wins in the UFC welterweight division if he can snap Buckley’s current two-fight streak.

What does Weidman have left? Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman returns to the cage for just the second time since his gruesome 2021 leg injury where he will be looking for just his third win since losing the 185-pound title back in 2015. Weidman is 2-7 since beginning his MMA career 13-0 five of those losses coming via knockout. He has a tough test in the form of knockout artist Bruno Silva who is perhaps best known for giving Alex Pereira a run for his money when they fought two years ago.

Can-Con: There is a double dose of Canadian content on this card with Mexican-Canadian “Loopy” Godinez facing Virna Jandiroba on the preliminary card and Huntsville, Ont.’s Kyle Nelson going up against Bill Algeo on the main card.

Below is the full fight card and projected bout order:

MAIN CARD

-- Erin Blanchfield vs. Manon Fiorot

-- Vicente Luque vs. Joaquin Buckley

-- Chris Weidman vs. Bruno Silva

-- Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Sedriques Dumas

-- Bill Algeo vs. Kyle Nelson

-- Chidi Njokuani vs. Rhys McKee

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Nate Landwehr vs. Jamall Emmers

-- Virna Jandiroba vs. Loopy Godinez

-- Julio Arce vs. Herbert Burns

-- Dennis Buzukja vs. Connor Matthews

-- Ibo Aslan vs. Anton Turkalj

-- Viktoriia Dudakova vs. Melissa Gatto

-- Andre Petroski vs. Jacob Malkoun

-- Angel Pacheco vs. Caolán Loughran