UFC is back for its first show of 2025 — and, of course, it goes down inside the APEX Facility in Las Vegas.

Believe it or not, UFC's first event of each year since 2021 has been an APEX Fight Night.

The centerpiece of UFC Vegas 101 is a strawweight contender rematch between fan favorites Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas. Unlike their first encounter in October 2019, the Brazilians are now established players at 115 pounds, with both still seeking their first shots at UFC gold. A win for either would move them comfortably up the chain and potentially one win away from that evasive opportunity.

A handful of notable names in the welterweight and middleweight divisions are also sprinkled throughout the card. UFC Vegas 101 is our appetizer for the big UFC 311 pay-per-view next weekend in Los Angeles, so let's take a further look at what's in store.

Betting odds courtesy of BetMGM.

115 pounds: Mackenzie Dern (+165) vs. Amanda Ribas (-200)

Our first UFC main event of 2025 feels like it's getting unnecessarily overlooked. It's a better and more intriguing rematch than it's gotten credit for, but that's to be expected when a stacked night of action like UFC 311 is right around the corner.

The first Dern vs. Ribas fight admittedly feels like ages ago — and to an extent, it was. Dern, a perpetual terror on the mats with her world-class jiu-jitsu game, was on an undefeated 7-0 strawweight on a superstar's rise — then she ran into Ribas, who handed her loss No. 1 via a lopsided unanimous decision.

In only her second UFC appearance, Ribas, 31, styled on Dern. Although Dern had shown growth in her overall game, primarily with her punching power, Ribas was significantly more developed as an MMA fighter than her counterpart in 2019.

Ribas used her defensive grappling to force Dern into exchanges that saw the submission wizard eat punch after punch like they were biscuits at a Golden Corral buffet. That, of course, was made even easier thanks to Dern's inability to pull off traditional takedowns — she went zero for six on her attempts.

The latter is still a strong weakness in Dern's game despite having gotten ever so slightly better with offensive wrestling over the years. Dern typically tries to drag her opponents down with her body weight — no matter how ugly the technique may look — and her success rate varies mightily. That path to victory once again won't be there against Ribas, and Dern's technical striking is still a notch below.

Two extra rounds for a main event make this fight more interesting, because the opening three rounds will likely look similar to their first bout. As Dern has spent more time in the Octagon, opponents have become better prepared for her strong ground game. Although she's been difficult to stop entirely in that realm, Dern hasn't won by submission since a first-round armbar against Nina Nunes in April 2021.

Even if Ribas finds herself on the bottom, she's never gassed terribly and has yet to be submitted herself. Dern has her work cut out again as she tries to overcome what will likely be a similar game plan to the first Ribas fight.

Pick: Ribas

170 pounds: Santiago Ponzinibbio (-145) vs. Carlston Harris (+120)

The 2010s were simpler times. Santiago Ponzinibbio was on the rise, putting Argentina on the map and welterweights on notice — then the dastardly injury bug stole it all away.

Ponzinibbio hasn't been the same since his career-best seven-fight winning streak from 2015 to 2018. A once-brutal knockout artist, Ponzinibbio (29-8) is 2-5 in his past seven fights, a slump that began after returning from injury layoff in 2021. However, that record doesn't tell the whole story. Three of those losses were hard-fought, wild split decision affairs against Geoff Neal, Michel Pereira and Muslim Salikhov. And in victory, Ponzinibbio started the downfall of the once-promising talent Miguel Baeza before an absurd comeback knockout of fellow veteran Alex Morono.

Some glimmers of past brilliance remain in the Argentine's tank. His leg kicks remain lethal weapons, and his power hasn't faded in the least. On the other hand, Carlston Harris has been a kill-or-be-killed competitor of the highest order.

The Brazilian will likely make this a gritty bout, utilizing his grappling with his brawling ways, but Ponzibbio has, more often than not, been savvy enough to outlast fighters who try to grind him down. Chins will be checked in this one, but expect Ponzinibbio's to hold the longest — and him to crack Harris in the process.

Pick: Ponzinibbio

185 pounds: César Almeida (-275) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan (+220)

It's great to see the UFC give us an extremely "middleweighty" fight to start 2025.

Longtime fans will remember the welterweight days of Abdul Razak Alhassan and his ferocious violence delivery system. Unfortunately, 185 pounds hasn't been as kind to him.

Alhassan only spent 37 seconds in the Octagon in 2024 and his lone encounter with Cody Brundage ended with a no contest due to some illegal elbows to the back of the head. It's been one fight per year for "Judo Thunder" since 2021. Meanwhile, César Almeida fought three times in 2024, making up for his gap of inactivity from December 2021 to August 2023.

There's a lot less tread on the 39-year-old Alhassan's MMA tires at this point compared to his 6-1 counterpart. That's not to say Almeida is a spring chicken at 36 — he's an experienced kickboxer with 57 matches (47-8-1, 1 NC). Alhassan has the power to be the first to knock out Almeida in his combat career, however, that's basically his only chance if he doesn't employ a heavy wrestling game plan, which is unlikely.

Pick: Almeida

185 pounds: Chris Curtis (+165) vs. Roman Kopylov (-225)

"Action Man" Chris Curtis is being disrespected by the oddsmakers in this one.

(On a quick side note, it's funny to see Roman Kopylov billed below Almeida despite his recent victory over him. This is UFC-card-placement logic at its finest.)

Anyway, I'm calling it now — this will be our Fight of the Night, ladies and gentlemen. Curtis and Kopylov have no plans to wrestle, and bricks will constantly sling in both directions.

Curtis, 37, is vastly superior due to his experience and competition level in 43 career bouts. His biggest problem has been consistency. Whether it's excellent performances in losses to Kelvin Gastelum and Brendan Allen or his knockout of Joaquin Buckley, the dude is very good. He just has to show up. It's hard to imagine he doesn't after losing a close split decision rematch to Allen in his most recent bout.

As long as Curtis can deal with the aggressive Kopylov, he should be able to counter and move away from big shots to land his own, outscoring or even putting away the Russian.

Pick: Curtis

145 pounds: Christian Rodriguez (+220) vs. Austin Bashi (-275)

Austin Bashi is one of those prospects.

The 23-year-old has been on the radar for MMA fans as a future UFC contender for a couple years now. His 13-0 record speaks for itself, with eight of those wins coming in finishes (five submissions, three knockouts).

Christian Rodriguez, 27, has also shown promise and fared well in grappling wars with previous opponents. However, those performances have been much more competitive than the ones we've seen against Bashi, who's just a strong, young dude for featherweight. Expect Bashi to push the pace and dictate the action, staying one step ahead of "CeeRod" throughout.

Pick: Bashi

170 pounds: Punahele Soriano (+180) vs. Uroš Medić (-225)

There's some major violence potential on Saturday between this fight and UFC Vegas 101's co-main event.

Punahele Soriano has been similar to Curtis with his inconsistency, though over a shorter span. After fighting to mixed results as a middleweight power puncher, Soriano made his welterweight debut in his most recent bout — a unanimous decision over Miguel Baeza. Against Uroš Medić, he'll have a willing dance partner to sling leather with.

I mentioned our beloved "kill-or-be-killed" competitors earlier, and Medić falls into that category, having never gone to the scorecards in 12 fights. He's been submitted in his two losses, leaving Soriano with an "easier" path to victory, though that's very much not Soriano's forte.

Ultimately, I think this will be a tough-man contest more than anything. Soriano's lone knockout loss came from body shots, as we've seen him take some wild punishment to the dome and keep coming forward. There's a chance this is someone's first knockout loss from head strikes, but I lean decision in either way, and Medić has the advantage with his striking defense and comfort at 170 pounds.

Pick: Medić

Preliminary notes

It feels like Thiago Moisés is older than 29. That might be because the jiu-jitsu black belt has been around the UFC lightweight division since Dern vs. Ribas 1, duking it out with the likes of Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush. Moisés hasn't reached the same heights as his more decorated opposition, but he still has time and has been a consistently fun watch, especially on the mat.

Moisés has been one of those fighters who loses to people he "should" lose to, like Dariush or Makhachev or Joel Álvarez. Luckily for him, though, Trey Ogden isn't one of those guys. So, if you like good graps, that should be one to watch — even if it's one-sided in the Brazilian's favor.

Meanwhile, Fatima Kline is a massive favorite over Vicktoria Dudakova. Listen, she's a great prospect and should win that fight and be favored. But I said this both before and after Mariya Agapova vs. Shanna Dobson — unless you're an anomaly of a talent like Bo Nickal or Kayla Harrison, a young fighter should never be such a big underdog.

Quick picks:

Jose Johnson (-185) def. Felipe Bunes (+150)

Marco Tulio (-550) def. Ihor Potieria (+400)

Thiago Moisés (-185) def. Trey Ogden (+150)

Jacobe Smith (-550) def. Preston Parson (+400)

Ernesta Kareckaite (-275) def. Nicolle Caliari (+220)

Magomed Gadzhiyasulov (-250) def. Bruno Lopes (+200)

Fatima Kline (-1000) def. Vicktoria Dudakova (+625)

Nurullo Aliev (-650) def. Joe Solecki (+475)