UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Vallejos Preview and Predictions

With the BMF title being won last weekend by Charles Oliveira in a wrestling- and grappling-heavy bout, that belt may be dead. However, the UFC follows up UFC 326 with a headlining affair in the featherweight division that should have a much more striking-heavy battle. Former interim title challenger Josh Emmett is north of 40 years old, and he has lost two fights in a row. He will look to take a page out of Mother Nature’s book and turn back the clock this weekend, as he squares off against Kevin Vallejos. Vallejos is just 24 years old and sports just one loss on his professional record. Sitting at No. 14 in the rankings, Vallejos will be trying to use a win over Emmett to catapult him into the conversation for future title contenders.

The main event is a women’s matchup at strawweight. Gillian Robertson has hit a stride and has rattled off four consecutive victories. At 30 years old, she is in her physical prime and, with those recent victories, has shown that her entire mixed martial arts game is something opponents must take into account. She faces 38-year-old Amanda Lemos, who enters this fight on the heels of a unanimous decision loss to Tatiana Suarez. Since dropping her bid for the title, Lemos has gone 2-2, and needs to put together a winning streak now if she has hopes of once again contending for the belt.

The event airs live on Paramount+ starting at 5 p.m. ET. Combat Press writers Andrew Sumian and Matt Petela preview the action in this week’s Toe-to-Toe.

Josh Emmett has lost four of his last five fights; can he turn the tables and defeat a streaking Kevin Vallejos?

Sumian: Since Feb. 2023, Josh Emmett has lost to Yair Rodriguez, Ilia Topuria, Lerone Murphy, and Yousef Zalal. All four combatants are top-10 featherweights, and he faced them all while he was on the wrong side of 35. Emmett got a later start to his UFC campaign, but he has always been one of the most vicious punchers in the division. At 41 years old, is it hard to imagine that Emmett has enough left in the tank to remain a top-ranked featherweight given the growing talent pool at 145 pounds. Still, if Emmett is able to land that one shot on Vallejos, it will undeniably remind the MMA world of the former interim title challenger’s destructive power.

Kevin Vallejos lost to Jean Silva on Contender Series 61 back in Sep. 2023. He went back to the drawing board, won two more fights, and returned to knock out Cam Teague a little over a year later. Since then, he has compiled a perfect 3-0 record in the UFC and, most recently, defeated Giga Chikadze in devastating fashion. The Argentinian is young, powerful, and ready to take the 145-pound division by storm. At 24 years old, he has room to grow, suffer losses, and come back even stronger. A convincing win over Emmett will undoubtedly set up Vallejos for a top-10 showdown in the back half of 2026.

I really do love Josh Emmett as a fighter and person. He is extremely fun to watch and very likeable. However, it is Vallejos’s time. He has the tools and youth to get by Emmett and probably finish him. Vallejos by first-round TKO.

Petela: This fight is personal to me. Not really, but I identify with Josh Emmett as a bald, ginger bearded man with brightly colored tattoos. The other thing we have in common is that we are past our prime. Emmett is three years older than I am, but still closer to his prime than I am.

Regardless of my hope for Emmett to score a win for us old guys, I don’t think it happens. He is taking on Kevin Vallejos who happens to be 17 years his junior. While power is the last thing to go, speed beats power, and Vallejos will have a noticeable speed advantage. It is a great opportunity for Vallejos to add a recognizable name to his resume, as he looks to climb the ladder in the featherweight division.

Both of these guys are going to want to be on their feet, so this could be a quick one. I do think that Emmett’s chin will hold up decently, but he will get rocked and then may try to implement his wrestling, but Vallejos will be wise to it and avoid getting put on his back. After a failed takedown attempt, Emmett will find himself out of position and get dinged again, this time taking him off his feet and leading to a knockout loss and the biggest win of Vallejos’ young career.

Gillian Robertson has won four straight contests; how does she fare against an elite opponent like Amanda Lemos?

Petela: I have to admit that I am biased against Gillian Robertson, because of her long standing professional relationship with Din Thomas. Thomas coached legendary human garbage can Greg Hardy, and, when pressed about why he would choose to coach someone with a history of domestic violence, he avoided it and used the block button on X, formerly Twitter. His moral bankruptcy leads me to not give Robertson her full due as a fighter, but, for the sake of this fight, I will try and put my personal feelings aside.

Robertson is talented, and she is still improving. Once just a grappler in four ounce gloves, she has improved her striking substantially, and her last two finishes came by punches. I think she will be the better fighter anywhere the fight goes, because I think the last fight we saw Amanda Lemos in, she looked a step slower. Lemos is past her prime at 38 years old, and, as we have seen time and time again, when fighters start to decline, it can happen fast. Robertson will land a glancing blow that knocks Lemos off balance and then methodically work to advantageous positions en route to either a submission win or a ground-strike TKO.

Sumian: It is shocking to me that Gillian Robertson is only 30 years old. It seems like she has been around forever, because she has. If you look at her resume, she has fought everyone and anyone in her respective divisions and is currently on her best streak yet. Since Sep. 2022, Robertson has compiled a 6-1 record and is currently on a four-fight winning streak. A win over Lemos could put her in a No. 1 contender fight at some point in 2026.

Since challenging Zhang Weili for the title in 2023, Amanda Lemos has gone .500 in her last four UFC appearances. At 38 years old, it is hard to imagine the Brazilian ever fighting for a title again, but she certainly has the power and submission skills to finish anyone put in front of her.

I would love to see Robertson pull off the victory here and make herself known as a true strawweight contender. However, the size and strength of Lemos is going to be very difficult to deal with. That being said, I believe Robertson is going to rise to the occasion and eventually pull off a slick submission in Round 3 to score the victory.

What one fighter’s UFC career is on the ropes at this event?

Sumian: I am probably way off on this pick, but let’s go with Andre Fili. In the new era, this is someone that generally does not finish fights, trades wins and losses, and is 35 years old. He is not necessarily a fan favorite and a loss to Jose Miguel Delgado could be the final nail.

Petela: Josh Emmett. He has lost four of his last five, he is 41 years old, and he fights in one of the most talent-stacked divisions. A loss to another younger up-and-comer will likely mean the end of the road for Emmett inside the promotion.

Which fight is the sleeper match-up on this card?

Petela: This fight card doesn’t need to happen. There is not a single fight of consequence throughout the event. The only sleeper pick is that I’m choosing to sleep rather than to watch this fight card.

Sumian: Hard to disagree with my colleague on this one. I will go with Chris Curtis and Myktykbek Orolbai. I do believe this is a good welterweight scrap and probably the second or third most meaningful fight of the card. These two should go back and forth and deliver some much needed action.

Who takes home the “Performance of the Night” honors?

Sumian: Oumar Sy. He will finish the always fun, yet reckless, Ion Cutelaba after the pair go wild for as long as this fight lasts. Sy by first-round knockout to earn a well-deserved bonus.

Petela: With the new bonus structure of every finish getting a bonus, I’d be a total curmudgeon if I said nobody, so I’ll go with Ion Cuteaba. “The Hulk” is wild and crazy to watch, because you never know what he is going to do or if he’s going to play possum and lose accidentally. I see him clipping Oumar Sy early in round one and finishing with some heavy ground-and-pound.

Pair this card with…

Petela: A fresh pillow case. If you’re on the East Coast like I am, go to bed early and make up for that hour of sleep you lost last week. If you’re out west, take a late nap and then go rally and have a fun night out on the town with that special someone or a group of buddies.

Sumian: I am running out of things to pair with less-than-mediocre fight cards. Thus far, the 2026 era is underwhelming to say the least and fight cards are getting worse by the month. Thus, I will go with hope. I hope that the UFC is able to turn things around starting with UFC 327 and end on a high note. For now, that hope remains minimal.