Tonight's UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Duncan card runs 12 fights deep from Meta Apex in Las Vegas, and the main event isn't the only reason to watch. Three other bouts on the lineup carry genuine roster stakes, a late-career storyline, or a near-certain finish — worth building your night around even if you tune in only for the headliners.
Niko Price vs. Leon Shahbazyan — a fan favorite's last stand
Niko Price is 37 years old, a longtime fan favorite known for his willingness to brawl, and he arrives on a four-fight losing streak that pushed him into a brief retirement in March. He's back tonight on short notice after being passed over for an earlier UFC Seattle booking, and by most read of his situation, this is likely his final UFC appearance regardless of outcome. Ten of his 16 career wins have come by knockout, so his power is real in any standing exchange, and it's the one tool that's kept him relevant through a four-fight skid most fighters wouldn't survive on the roster.
The problem for Price is who's across the cage. Leon Shahbazyan — younger brother of middleweight veteran Edmen Shahbazyan — has finished 11 of his 12 career wins by submission, and Price has been tapped out in two of his last three fights. Shahbazyan is 0-1 in the UFC after a first-round knockout loss in his debut, which means he's just as motivated to leave with a win as Price is. The styles collide cleanly: puncher's chance against a grappler who specializes in exactly the kind of finish that's ended Price's recent run. Full breakdown on the fight page.
Julius Walker vs. Gerald Meerschaert — one of the sport's most prolific finishers, moving up to survive
Gerald Meerschaert has 29 career submission wins and 11 of them inside the UFC — one of only five fighters in UFC history to reach double digits there. He's also dropped five straight fights at middleweight, and tonight he moves up to light heavyweight against Julius Walker in a move that's as much about finding a reset as it is about size, in a bout that decides which man keeps his roster spot.
Walker brings his own two-fight skid into the cage, most recently an eight-second knockout loss, but four of his seven career wins have come by knockout of his own, and his size advantage at the new weight is real. Meerschaert's 29 submissions mean any scramble or clinch exchange is live for him no matter how much bigger Walker is standing across from him — this is a fight where size and desperation meet pure finishing craft, with both corners fighting to stay employed. Full breakdown on the fight page.
Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Otari Tanzilovi — the fight least likely to see a judge
If you only have time for one fight beyond the main card tonight, this is the one least likely to need three rounds. Malcolm Wellmaker, a switch-stance bantamweight, carries an 80 percent career finish rate and is coming off back-to-back losses — a decision and a submission — that snapped what had been a finish-heavy run. Otari Tanzilovi has seven knockouts in ten career wins, five of them inside the first round, and is looking to answer a lopsided decision loss of his own.
Both men are built the same way: neither has much interest in winning on the scorecards, and both are coming off a result that stings. That combination — two finishers, both trying to answer a setback, in the same cage — is exactly the setup that tends to produce fast, aggressive fights rather than cautious ones. Full breakdown on the fight page.
Why these three, and not just the top of the card
The main event between Brendan Allen and Christian Leroy Duncan is the best fight on paper, and the co-main between Matheus Camilo and Jai Herbert carries its own power-versus-power intrigue. But a 12-fight card has more going on than its top two bouts, and these three bring something the headliners don't: a fighter's likely final walk, a pure roster-survival stakes match, and the single fight on the lineup built almost entirely around finishing rather than points.
None of that requires betting knowledge or deep division history to appreciate. Price's story is readable from his record alone. Walker-Meerschaert is a size-versus-submission puzzle either way it plays out. And Wellmaker-Tanzilovi needs nothing more than knowing both men are trying to end the fight fast and have shown they usually can.
The takeaway
A card this deep rewards watching more than just the two names at the top of the poster. Price's probable farewell, the roster-spot desperation between Walker and Meerschaert, and the high-finish-probability clash between Wellmaker and Tanzilovi each bring a different reason to stay tuned in once the main event wraps — and each is worth knowing walking into tonight, not catching up on after the fact.