Headlined by heavyweight contenders Stipe Miocic and Mark Hunt, UFC Fight Night 65 will be held in Adelaide, Australia on Saturday night.
In his most recent outing, Miocic saw a three-bout winning streak come to an end against former champion Junior dos Santos. Even though he came out on the wrong end of the decision, Miocic proved he could hang with the very best heavyweights in the world by going the distance with Cigano.
Meanwhile, Hunt battled Fabricio Werdum for an interim heavyweight title in his latest contest. Usually tough to put away, Hunt was stopped with strikes in the second round. The Super Samoan will look to get back on track against Miocic this weekend.
While Miocic and Hunt have secured their UFC roster spots, many UFC Fight Night 65 competitors are in worse positions. Here are the individuals sitting on the hot seat heading into the event on Saturday.
Bec Rawlings and Lisa Ellis
On The Ultimate Fighter 20, Bec Rawlings and Lisa Ellis were both eliminated in the opening round.
Rawlings was edged by Tecia Torres in a decision after two rounds. Ellis, meanwhile, was submitted by Jessica Penne in the first stanza.
Following their appearances on the UFC reality show, Rawlings and Ellis were both beaten in their official UFC debuts. Rawlings again suffered a decision loss against Heather Clark, while Ellis was submitted again in a bout with Felice Herrig.
In the developing strawweight division, it’s possible another chance would be given. However, the loser of Saturday’s prelim bout between Rawlings and Ellis would likely return to Invicta FC and have to earn their way back into the Octagon.
Dylan Andrews
Eliminated by Uriah Hall in the TUF 17 semifinals, Dylan Andrews looked like a fighter who could have a long UFC career with some improvements.
Initially, it looks as though Andrews had made the necessary changes, as he scored knockout wins in his first two official UFC contests. However, since then, Andrews has been stopped in two consecutive outings, putting his UFC career in jeopardy.
Facing Brad Scott, who owns a subpar 1-2 UFC record, Andrews can’t afford to lose this weekend. A third straight loss at 35 years old would almost guarantee his release from the world’s top MMA organization.
Alex Chambers and Kailin Curran
On TUF 20, Alex Chambers was submitted by Rose Namajunas in the opening round. She then followed that up with a submission loss to Aisling Daly in her official UFC debut.
At 36 years old, Chambers isn’t likely to get better than she is right now, so she needs to show something soon to prove she can compete against UFC strawweights.
Kailin Curran didn’t compete on TUF 20, but she was also stopped in her UFC debut against Paige VanZant. Strawweights might be given a little more slack than most, but UFC fighters who lose their first two bouts with the promotion are usually cut.
Unless they put on a Fight of the Night performance together, Chambers and Curran should be looking at this as a loser-leaves-town matchup.
Brendan O’Reilly
Brendan O’Reilly suffered a decision loss to Zhang Lipeng in his UFC debut. Following an unsuccessful appearance on TUF Nations, it seems likely that O’Reilly would have to return to regional competition.
Instead, Badger has moved up to the welterweight class and will be given another opportunity to compete inside the Octagon. With not many positives coming out of his past UFC appearances, though, one has to assume this will be the last chance for O’Reilly.
Facing fellow TUF veteran Vik Grujic, O’Reilly has a good chance to get into the win column this weekend. So, he’ll have no excuses should he get released if and when he doesn’t.
Alptekin Ozkilic
He started his UFC career with a decision win over Darren Uyenoyama, but Alptekin Ozkilic has been headed in the wrong direction since then.
With two straight losses against John Lineker and Louis Smolka, Ozkilic could now be fighting for his spot on the UFC roster.
Facing UFC newcomer Ben Nguyen, Ozkilic will have every opportunity to get back on track at UFC Fight Night 65. However, a loss to an unproven opponent like Nguyen would almost certainly punch Ozkilic‘s ticket back to smaller shows.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com