Raul Rosas Jr. and Raoni Barcelos headline UFC Fight Night: Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos on September 26 in Las Vegas, but three other bouts on the twelve-fight card carry stories worth clearing time for: a genuine top-five matchup buried on the prelims, the personal final of a reality-show tournament, and a fight that was supposed to happen more than two years ago. None of them are the main event, and all three are worth watching live rather than scrolling past on the way to the walkouts.
Norma Dumont vs. Ailin Perez: A Real Top-Five Fight on the Prelims
This is the rare prelim bout that would headline a lot of cards on paper. Norma Dumont is ranked No. 3 in the women's bantamweight division, and Ailin Perez sits directly behind her at No. 4 — a genuine ranked-versus-ranked matchup that just happens to be slotted on the early portion of the broadcast rather than the main card.
Dumont built a six-fight win streak on volume boxing before a unanimous-decision loss to Joselyne Edwards this past April snapped it, and she's looking to reassert herself against a step up in power. Perez, coming off a decision win over Macy Chiasson in February, brings relentless forward pressure and heavy hands into what her own bio calls the biggest test of her UFC run. Dumont vs. Perez decides real positioning in a crowded top ten, and it's happening before most fans have even turned on the broadcast.
Osmanli vs. Akylbek Uulu: The TUF 34 Final With History Behind It
Mehemmedeli Osmanli and Ilimbek Akylbek Uulu meet in the bantamweight final of The Ultimate Fighter season 34, and this one carries more than the usual tournament stakes. Osmanli, a 22-year-old from Azerbaijan, advanced by landing the first buggy choke submission in the show's history — a highlight-reel finish that says a lot about how aggressively he hunts for the tap. Akylbek Uulu, also 22, reached the final with a more composed, decision-based path, most recently a unanimous-decision win in the semifinal.
What separates this from a typical prospect showcase is the reported tension between the two finalists during the show itself — the card's own matchup notes describe a training-room altercation between them before the final was even set. Two fighters with a personal edge already in place, one an aggressive finisher and the other a measured control fighter, is exactly the kind of pairing that tends to produce a fight more intense than its billing suggests. Osmanli vs. Akylbek Uulu closes out one half of the season's tournament on the main card.
Nakamura vs. Hiestand: A Booking Finally Two Years Late
Rinya Nakamura and Brady Hiestand were supposed to fight in 2024. That bout fell apart when Hiestand withdrew injured, and more than two years later, it's finally happening — though neither man's résumé looks the way it did back then. Nakamura went on to win the first season of Road to UFC, took the fight originally meant for Hiestand's slot against a late replacement instead, and has gone on to suffer the first loss of his career before bouncing back with a first-round finish. Hiestand, a Ultimate Fighter season 29 finalist, won three straight after that setback before the long layoff that followed his 2024 withdrawal.
Both men finish fights — Nakamura has six knockouts in ten career wins, and Hiestand has finished six of his eight — which makes a delayed booking between two finishers a genuinely dangerous style pairing rather than a formality. Nakamura vs. Hiestand is what happens when a matchmaking decision from years ago finally gets to play out, with both careers having moved considerably since it was first made.
It's also a reminder of how much a fighter's résumé can change in the gap between a booking falling apart and it finally happening. Nakamura took a completely different opponent in the slot Hiestand vacated back then, built an entire career arc around that alternate path — a title-worthy tournament run, a first loss, a bounce-back finish — and only now circles back to the man originally across from him. Hiestand, for his part, spent more than two years away from the cage entirely. Neither man is the same fighter fight fans would have watched in 2024, which makes the eventual matchup a genuinely different fight than the one that was originally on the books.
Why these three over the marquee names
None of these three carry the title implications of the main event or the roster-spot stakes of the co-main, and that's exactly why they're worth seeking out. Dumont-Perez settles real rankings business in a crowded division without any of the main-card spotlight. Osmanli-Akylbek Uulu closes a reality-show tournament between two fighters who reportedly don't need extra motivation to bring intensity. And Nakamura-Hiestand is a matchup that's been waiting more than two years to happen, between two fighters who've each changed considerably in the meantime. Each one answers a different kind of question than "who wins the main event" — and each is worth watching in its own right.
The takeaway
Dumont-Perez is buried on the prelims but carries more rankings weight than most of the main card. Osmanli-Akylbek Uulu is a tournament final with real history behind it. Nakamura-Hiestand is a two-year-old booking finally getting its moment. All three sit on the full UFC Vegas 121 card alongside Saturday's headliners, and none of them need the main event to be worth setting aside time for.