PREVIEW: UFC Fight Night In Orlando Tonight Features Thrilling Fight Card

By  //  February 24, 2018

Airs Live on FOX at 8 p.m. ET

ABOVE VIDEO: Fight Night Orlando: Emmett vs Stephens – Jimmy Smith Preview

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) returns to the Sunshine State with a thrilling fight card, featuring the battle of top-10 featherweights Jeremy Stephens (No. 8) and Josh Emmett (No. 4). UFC FIGHT NIGHT® takes place at Orlando’s Amway Center on Saturday, February 24.

Stephens, an Iowa native who now fights out of San Diego, is a 10-year UFC veteran with prior victories over former champions Rafael dos Anjos and Renan Barao. He has won his last two fights, including Sunday’s highlight-reel TKO of Choi, and has a 14-13 record in UFC.

The 31-year-old is the No. 8 contender in the featherweight division.

Emmett, 32, has a 13-1 career record, including 4-1 in UFC. The Sacramento native is also facing a relatively quick turnaround between fights — he defeated Ricardo Lamas on Dec. 16. The upset win, which Emmett took on short notice, moved him up to No. 4 among the organization’s featherweight contenders.

ABOVE VIDEO: Check out the weigh-in recap from Fight Night Orlando featuring Josh Emmett and Jeremy Stephens.

Also at UFC FIGHT NIGHT®, top strawweight contenders collide when number two-ranked Jessica Andrade faces number five-ranked Tecia Torres.

A former strawweight title challenger, Andrade (17-6, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) put on the most dominant performance of her career last September when she won a spectacular decision against Claudia Gadelha. During her stint in the UFC’s 115-pound weight class, she has also netted impressive victories over Angela Hill, Joanne Calderwood and Jessica Penne. Andrade hopes an emphatic win will propel her into another title shot.

Torres (10-1, fighting out of Colorado Springs, CO) is gunning for a rubber match with newly- minted strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas. The two originally met under the Invicta FC banner in 2013, with Torres winning a unanimous decision. Namajunas returned the favor in April 2016. Since then, Torres has gone on a three-fight winning streak, picking up victories against Bec Rawlings, Juliana Lima and Michelle Waterson.

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Additional bouts on the card include:

Ben Saunders vs. Alan Jouban

Ovince Saint Preux vs. Ilir Latifi

Mike Perry vs. Alex Griffin

Renan Barao vs. Brian Kelleher

Angela Hill vs. Maryna Moroz

Sara McMann vs. Marion Reneau

​Rani Yahya vs. Russell Doane

Sam Alvey vs. Marcin Prachnio

Eric Shelton vs. Alex Perez

Albert Morales vs. Manny Bermudez

For the latest information on additional bouts for this event, please visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT® airs live on FOX at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 24, with prelims kicking off on FS1 at 5 p.m. ET and on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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