UFC Fight Tonight: Is there a UFC card on Saturday, May 1, 2021?
After a packed pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida, last Saturday, the UFC will be back on their home turf at the Apex facility this Saturday with a light heavyweight headliner.
Former two-time light heavyweight challenger Dominick Reyes will go up against former RIZIN light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka in the main event of the card.
The two were initially booked to fight on the February 27 card at UFC Vegas 20, but the bout was subsequently canceled after Dominick Reyes had to pull out because of an injury.
Cyril Gane vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik served as the headliner for that card, and Reyes vs Prochazka was booked for May 1, 2021, instead.
The co-main event of the card will feature Cub Swanson against Giga Chikadze in a featherweight bout.
The former, a 37-year-old Californian, is coming off back-to-back wins over Kron Gracie and Daniel Pineda. Meanwhile, his opponent, a 32-year-old from Tbilisi, Georgia, is yet to lose in the UFC. He is on a current streak of seven wins in his MMA career, with his last loss coming against Austin Springer in Dana White's Contender Series back in 2018.
Dubbed UFC Vegas 25, the fight card will also feature Ion Cutelaba in a light heavyweight bout against Dustin Jacoby, Sean Strickland in a middleweight fight against Krzysztof Jotko Merab Dvalishvili in a bantamweight contest against Cody Stamann and Poliana Botelho in a women's flyweight battle against Luana Carolina.
Also Read: UFC Predictions: UFC Vegas 25: Dominick Reyes vs Jiri Prochazka Predictions & Picks.
UFC Fight Night: Reyes vs Prochazka
This will be the first time Dominick Reyes will fight inside the UFC octagon after his two title-bout losses last year. After dropping a controversial decision to the-then light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 247, Dominik Reyes was given another shot at the title when Jones vacated the belt for a move up to the heavyweight division.
Dominick Reyes faced another top contender - Jan Blachowicz - for the vacant 205-pound belt at UFC 253. Reyes, though, suffered a second-round knockout via punches against Blachowicz and has been out of the octagon since then.
Compared to Reyes, Jiri Prochazka is basically a newcomer in the UFC. He has so far competed only once in the promotion. Prochazka faced Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 251 last year and came out victorious with a KO win in the second round.
Also Read: 3 reasons why Jiri Prochazka could be the next big star in the UFC's light heavyweight division.
The entire fight card will be telecast on ESPN 2 and simulcast on ESPN+ live from UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.