Overview
- The featherweight headliner takes place Saturday, May 16 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, with prelims at 5 p.m. ET and the main card at 8 p.m. ET streaming on Paramount+, plus regional options on UFC Fight Pass and TNT/HBO Max in the UK and DAZN in select countries.
- No. 7 Arnold Allen meets No. 12 Melquizael Costa in a bout positioned to affect the top of the 145‑pound rankings, with reports noting a Costa win could push him into the top seven.
- Costa enters on a sustained run highlighted by a first‑round spinning‑kick stoppage of Dan Ige on February 21, while Allen seeks to rebound after a January 24 decision loss to Jean Silva and he has never been finished in 24 pro fights.
- Betting markets have shifted toward Allen, with lines in the -160 to -190 range and some prediction markets putting his win chance near 59–60%, citing his experience and five‑round seasoning.
- Costa says he will score the first knockout of Allen’s career and believes a decisive win would set up a title eliminator, adding intrigue as the UFC card shares the weekend with a separate Netflix MMA show.