On Saturday, January 11, the UFC will host its first event of 2025 at its home base: the UFC APEX. The 13-fight card will be headlined by a women’s strawweight fight between Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas. This is a rematch, as they first fought at a fight night in 2019. The card will feature many veterans and three UFC debutants: Austin Bashi, Marco Tulio, and Jacobe Smith.
Bashi, 23, picked up a submission victory on season eight of Dana White’s Contender Series. He is fighting Christian Rodriguez in the second fight of the main card. Bashi is a -265 favorite, as Rodriguez is +215. Tulio is making his UFC debut after having a knockout win on DWCS in August. He is facing Ihor Potieria on the Prelims. Smith, the first DWCS alum fighting on this card, is a massive -600 favorite against Preston Parsons.
11-year UFC veteran Santiago Ponzinibbio is making his 19th walk to the Octagon on Saturday. He is facing Carlston Harris, who is 4-2 in promotion. Ponzinibbio lost four of his last five fights by a split decision. He is in a must-win situation to remain in his position in the promotion. Harris has a three-inch reach advantage (76″ vs. 73″), but Ponzinibbio lands 1.56 more significant strikes per minute. Ponzinibbio is the favorite in this contest at -135, while Harris is +114 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Ribas is coming off a loss to Rose Namajunas, but she is still a -192 favorite against Dern. Since they fought in 2019, Dern is 7-4 and most recently beat Loopy Godinez. Ribas landed 74 significant strikes to Dern’s 20 en route to a unanimous victory. In this bout, Ribas has an edge in reach (66″ vs. 63″), while Dern is taller by one inch (5’4″ vs. 5’3″).
Jose Johnson, who is fighting Felipe Bunes in the featured prelim, weighed 2.5 pounds overweight on Friday. He will forfeit 20 percent of his purse. Ihor Potieria weighed two pounds over the 186-pound middleweight limit for non-title fights. He will forfeit 25 percent of his purse in his contest against Marco Tulio. Both bouts will be held at a catchweight and will proceed.
Check out the full card 14-fight card below.
Main Card | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+
| Matchup: | Records: | Weight Class: | Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook: |
| #6 Mackenzie Dern vs. #8 Amanda Ribas Main Event | 14-5 (9-5 UFC) vs. 13-5 (7-4 UFC) | W Strawweight | +160 vs. -192 |
| Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris | 29-8 (11-7 UFC) vs. 19-6 | Welterweight | -135 vs. +114 |
| Cesar Almeida vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan | 6-1 (2-1 UFC) vs. 12-6 (6-6 UFC) | Middleweight | -250 vs. +205 |
| Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov | 31-11 (5-3 UFC) vs. 13-3 (5-3 UFC) | Middleweight | +185 vs. -225 |
| Christian Rodriguez vs. Austin Bashi | 11-2 (4-2 UFC) vs. 13-0 | Featherweight | +215 vs. -265 |
| Punahele Soriano vs. Uros Medic | 10-4 (4-4 UFC) vs 10-2 (4-2 UFC) | Bantamweight | +180 vs. -218 |
Prelims | 4 p.m. ET | ESPN+
| Matchup: | Records: | Weight Class: | Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook: |
| Jose Johnson vs. Felipe Bunes | 16-9 (1-2 UFC) vs. 13-7 (0-1 UFC) | Flyweight | -175 vs. +145 |
| Marco Tulio vs. Ihor Potieria | 12-1 vs. 21-7 (2-5 UFC) | Middleweight | -550 vs/ +410 |
| Thiago Moises vs. Trey Ogden | 18-8 (7-6 UFC) vs. 18-6 (3-2 UFC) | Lightweight | -166 vs. +140 |
| Preston Parsons vs. Jacobe Smith | 11-5 (2-3 UFC) vs. 9-0 | Welterweight | +440 vs. -600 |
| Ernesta Kareckaite vs. Nicolle Caliari | 5-1-1 (0-1 UFC) vs. 8-2 | W Flyweight | -270 vs. +220 |
| Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes | 9-0 (1-0 UFC) vs. 13-1 | Light Heavyweight | -265 vs. +215 |
| Fatima Kline vs. Viktoriia Dudakova | 6-1 (0-1 UFC) vs. 8-1 (2-1 UFC) | W Strawweight | -850 vs. +575 |
| Nurullo Aliev vs. Joe Solecki | 9-0 (1-0 UFC) vs. 13-5 (5-3 UFC) | Lightweight | -750 vs. +525 |
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