UFC AC: 22 Fun Tidbits, Facts And Storylines

After back-to-back forgettable UFC Apex events in which a fighter was released for biting his opponent, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) travels to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., for UFC Atlantic City. Top-ranked Flyweight contender, Erin Blanchfield (No.2), takes on No. 3-seeded French powerhouse, Manon Fiorot, in a pivotal main event matchup.

UFC Atlantic City has several fun matches, and the atmosphere should be incredible because it is in front of fans, so before it all goes down tomorrow evening (Sat., March 30, 2023), let’s checkout some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of showtime …

Winner’s Got Next

Blanchfield vs. Fiorot is a true No. 1 contender fight in the women’s Flyweight division — high stakes. Flyweight champion, Alex Grasso, will defend her title against Valentina Shevchenko in a trilogy fight at some point this year (MMAmania.com has learned the plan is UFC 306 at The Sphere, but nothing is confirmed). The winner of this weekend’s main event should get the winner of Grasso vs. Shevchenko; however, depending on the timeline, it might not be until early 2025.

Top 3

The two fighters in the main event are ranked in the top three inside UFC’s Top 15 rankings, with Blanchefield ranked No. 2 and Fiorot seeded No. 3.

Main Event Noob

Fiorot competes in her first-ever UFC main event this weekend after six fights in the promotion, while Blanchfield competes in her second main event (her first being UFC Vegas 69 against Jessica Andrade.)

Fiorot is riding an 11-fight win streak and is coming off a win over Rose Namajunas. Blanchfield, meanwhile, is coming off a win over Taila Santos and is riding a nine-fight win streak.

Home Game

The crowd will go nuts this weekend as Blanchfield is fighting in her home state of New Jersey. She was born in Elmwood Park, training in “The Garden State” at MK Muay Thai and Silverfox BJJ.

Vicente Luque, who competes in the co-main event, was also born in New Jersey.

‘The World’s Playground’

UFC returns to Atlantic City for the first time since 2018 (UFC Fight Night 128). In the main event, Kevin Lee finished Edson Barboza via doctor stoppage. In the co-main event, Frankie Edgar defeated Cub Swanson via unanimous decision. Another highlight was Ricky Simon handing Merab Dvalishvili his second straight loss, which is also “The Machine’s” last loss.

Buckley Gets Another Shot

Joaquin Buckley will have another opportunity to crack UFC’s Top 15 rankings, this time in the Welterweight, taking on fellow fan-favorite, Vicente Luque. Buckley had two opportunities to get into the Middleweight Top 15, but lost both fights to Nassourdine Imavov and Chris Curtis.

“New Mansa” is coming off two wins against Alex Morono and Andre Fialho.

Retirement Fight?

Following Chris Weidman’s latest loss to Brad Tavares at UFC 292, the former Middleweight champion contemplated retirement, but his mind changed when he got the call for UFC Atlantic City.

“During this training camp, I was very open-minded to read myself and see how I feel physically and mentally,” Weidman said during UFC Atlantic City media day. “Are there things I still have to offer? Am I as good as I once was? Can I still evolve? And as camp evolved, I still think skillset-wise, I’m still better than ever.”

If Weidman were to call it a career on Saturday, it would make all the sense in the world because he actually started his career in Atlantic City way back in 2009.

“Garden State” King

Weidman is undefeated (4-0) while fighting in Atlantic City (Ring of Combat).

Brazilian Revenge

Weidman’s opponent, Bruno Silva, has revenge on his mind this weekend … He really wants to defeat the former Middleweight champion for Anderson Silva, who Weidman finished twice.

Silva wants revenge for Silva … don’tcha love it?

Sophomore Outing

Nursulton Ruziboev returns to action nearly nine months after he starched Brunno Ferreira in less than two minutes (watch highlights). “Black” is a scary prospect, standing 6’5″ and having a 94 percent finish rate with 20 submissions and nine knockouts.

While he’s from Uzbekistan, he trains out of Philadelphia, Pa., so he will have somewhat of a “home game” this weekend when he takes on Sedriques Dumas.

Moving Down

One of the more stunning developments on this card is that Chidi Njokuani is moving back down to Welterweight after 10 fights at Middleweight, claiming he will never cut back down to 170 pounds again. Njokuani moved up to Middleweight in 2018 after he missed weight eight times and damaged his vocal cords from the nasty weight cuts.

The crazy decision to return to Welterweight is most likely a last-ditch effort to save his UFC career after dropping three fights in a row (two by finish).

Baby Burns Returns

Gilber Burns younger brother, Herbert Burns, returns to action this weekend after a 20-month layoff. Burns has been recovering from a knee injury that he sustained in his last outing against Bill Algeo.

“The Blaze” is riding a two-fight losing streak after winning his first two UFC fights via finish. He faces Julio Arce.

Welcome To UFC!

Three fighters are making their UFC debuts this weekend at UFC Atlantic City.

• Connor Matthews (7-1) takes on Dennis Buzukja. Matthews is coming off a contract-winning performance on season seven of Contender Series against Jair Farias, where he won via unanimous decision. Matthews holds an 85 percent finish rate with five submissions.
• Ibo Aslan (12-1) fights Anton Turkalj (more on that later). Aslan is also coming off a contract-winning performance on season seven of Contender Series against Paulo Renato Jr., where he knocked him out in the first round. Aslan holds a 100 percent finish rate with 12 knockouts.
• Angel Pacheco (7-2) debuts against Caolan Loughran. Pacheco also got signed on season seven of Contender Series; however, he got signed off a loss to Danny Silva, but no one cared because it is one of the best fights you’ll ever watch. Pacheco holds a 100 percent finish rate with four knockouts and three submissions.

Running It Back

Aslan and Turkalj are rematching this weekend. The two Light Heavyweights fought in the co-main event of Brave CF 40 back in 2020, with Turkalj handing Aslan his first professional loss via second round submission.

The stakes of this fight are high as it is Aslan’s UFC debut, and Turkalj is fighting for his UFC career.

Moving Up

Two fighters are moving up a division at UFC Atlantic City”

• After four fights at Bantamweight, where he went 2-2, Arce moves back up to Featherweight, where he has had the most success. He is also coming off a 16-month layoff.
• Undefeated Russian prospect, Victoria Dudakova, moves up to Flyweight after missing weight in her last outing. MMAMania.com has learned this is not a permanent move, but instead a test. Dudakova is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jinh Yu Frey.

UFC Atlantic City Fight Leader

The fighter with the most career fights competing at UFC Atlantic City is Ruziboev (43).

UFC Atlantic City Fight Rookie

The fighters with the least amount of career fights competing at UFC Atlantic City are Matthews and Dudakova (eight).

UFC Atlantic City Knockout King

The fighter with the most amount of career knockouts competing at UFC Atlantic City is Silva (20).

UFC Atlantic City Submission Savant

The fighter with the most amount of career submissions competing at UFC Atlantic City is Ruziboev (20).

Winners And Losers

Fourteen fighters are coming off wins, and 14 are coming off losses.

Multi-Divisions

Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:

• One Light Heavyweight fight
• Three Middleweight fights
• Two Welterweight fights
• Four Featherweight fights
• One Bantamweight fights
• One women’s Flyweight fight
• One women’s Strawweight fight

Beta Dog

According to DraftKings, UFC Atlantic City’s “biggest” underdog is Pachecho at +300.

---

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Atlantic City fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN (simulcast on ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Atlantic City: “Blanchfield vs. Fiorot” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.