This weekend (Sat., Feb. 7, 2026), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will return home to Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, for UFC Vegas 113. This is a better-than-average “Fight Night” event, which is to say, the top three fights are more intriguing than normal. Mario Bautista vs. Vinicius Oliveira is a certified Bantamweight BANGER and over five rounds? There’s no chance the main event is anything less than awesome.
The quality doesn’t immediately drop off either. Kyoji Horiguchi was spectacular in his UFC return back in November, and he looks to keep the ball rolling against the highly ranked Amir Albazi. Moving further down the card, there’s trustworthy action fighters like Michael Oleksiejczuk, Alex Morono, and Wang Cong that should deliver some fun.
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Let’s dig into the analysis and predictions of the four main card fights leading up to the co-main event:
Heavyweight: Jailton Almeida (-160) vs. Rizvan Kuniev (+124)
Best Win for Almeida? Derrick Lewis For Kuniev? Anthony Hamilton
Current Streak: Both men lost controversial decisions in their most recent appearances
X-Factor: Almeida took the fight on short-notice
How these two match up: This is a reasonably high-level Heavyweight fight … for whatever that’s worth nowadays.
Almeida is among the most frustrating fighters on the UFC roster, a man clearly gifted with all the tools and skills to be champion (of a crap division). I am fully convinced that I — nay, most of us — could train Almeida to UFC gold were we given the opportunity. The training plan would merely require some kind of reward/pun ishment system and a ground-and-pound training dummy, which we could force Almeida to elbow for two hours a day.
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It’s absolutely incredible how the amazing grappler refuses to hit his opponents from top position.
Kuniev, conversely, is still making his name known inside the Octagon, but he’s clearly better than most. The Russian standout did good work in resisting many of Curtis Blaydes’ takedowns in his UFC debut, landing some heavy shots and arguably winning the fight outright. He’s still looking for his first Octagon win, but clearly UFC believes there’s something there based on his immediate introduction into Top 10 opposition.
It is hard to pick against Almeida because his grappling threat is so dominant. His takedowns seem fairly unstoppable, as nobody has found an answer yet for that blast double. It’s a matter of catching the Brazilian with strikes before he lands the takedown or outworking him once on the floor, which is only feasible because of the aforementioned refusal to punch on the floor.
Kuniev is a big lad, but he’s not a massively explosive hitter nor does he have Alexander Volkov’s experience on the bottom. My general thought is that if the 265-pound prospect is taken down and forced to defend, he’s going to be exhausted quickly. Blaydes couldn’t really establish top position, but that’s rarely proven an issue for Almeida and should make the difference.
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Prediction: Almeida via decision
Middleweight: Michael Oleksiejczuk (-350) vs. Marc-Andre Barriault (+255)
Best Win for Oleksiejczuk? Gerald Meerschaert For Barriault? Eryk Anders
Current Streak: Oleksiejczuk has won two in a row, whereas Barriault lost his last bout
X-Factor: Barriault has a lot of wear on the tires
How these two match up: This is a guaranteed slugfest.
Oleksiejczuk has long felt like a fighter who has more potential than success. The 30-year-old veteran has tremendously fast hands and great natural power, but he can really struggle when faced with an opponent who wants to take him down. Since moving to The Fighting Nerds, Oleksiejczuk has won two in a row against an admittedly uninspiring level of competition.
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Maybe that team will help him put it all together?
Barriault, conversely, has the look of a fighter slowing down. “Power Bar” is a nasty close range slugger with mean elbows and a relentless work rate, but his historically rock solid durability is beginning to crack after two knockout losses in his last four appearances.
There is certainly a path to victory for Barriault as the bigger and stronger man. If he’s single-minded in pursuit of the clinch, there’s a possibility he shuts down his opponent’s combination punching and is able to bully him. Oleksiejczuk has certainly proven himself capable of underwhelming in the past!
That said, it feels like the Polish fighter is turning a corner, and his speed advantage should be massive. A few digs to the belly will likely halt Barriault’s forward pressure, allowing Oleksiejczuk the speed to build combinations and drop that left hand hammer before too long.
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Prediction: Oleksiejczuk via knockout
Bantamweight: Jean Matsumoto (+215) vs. Farid Basharat (-290)
Best Win for Matsumoto? Miles Johns For Basharat? Chris Gutierrez
Current Streak: Matsumoto won his last bout, while Basharat is undefeated at 14-0 (5-0 UFC)
X-Factor: Basharat’s the tighter defensive fighter
How these two match up: Talented young Bantamweights comfortable wherever the fight goes — what’s not to like?
Between the two, Matsumoto feels like the more aggressive fighter. He likes to use big swings to hide heavy low kicks and takedowns alike, and he definitely sets a high pace. The young Brazilian fights with the kind of confidence you would expect from a 26 year old with a 17-1 pro record. Basharat, conversely, is a little more measured but still sets a very high pace. He doesn’t necessarily have the same venom on his shots, but every aspect of his game flows well, and his wrestling has proven dominant five fights into his UFC career.
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It feels like Matsumoto has run into a bit of a wall at 135-pounds. He was lucky to get the decision win last time out over Johns in a fight where he was soundly outwrestled. Basharat will likely take advantage of those same openings, and his kickboxing is slicker than Johns as well. It’s always possible that a prospect like Matsumoto will come out much sharper than he looked six months ago, but based on what we’ve seen so far, Basharat should be favored to win the wrestling and take home another decision win.
Prediction: Basharat via decision
Light Heavweight: Dustin Jacoby (-200) vs. Julius Walker (+154)
Best Win for Jacoby? Kennedy Nzechukwu For Walker? Raffael Cerqueira
Current Streak: Jacoby has won two in a row, whereas Walker picked up his first UFC win last time out
X-Factor: Jacoby is a bit of a wild card
How these two match up: This is classic veteran vs. prospect matchmaking.
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Jacoby is a former professional kickboxer and likes to keep fights upright. He has better range control than the average Light Heavyweight striker and is capable of picking apart opponents with the jab and low kick, but he’s always fairly content to bite down on his mouthpiece and brawl when given the opportunity.
Surprisingly, Walker has only been a pro since April 2023. He fights like a man who has been training mixed martial arts since day one, pushing a solid pace and doing good work in the transition between clinch work, strikes, and takedowns. He’s still a little raw in all areas individually, but Walker is a good enough athlete to make it work much of the time.
I’ll confess that I find Jacoby fights wildly difficult to predict. This is a man who sprinted onto Dominick Reyes’ best punch and brawled with Alonzo Menifield for some reason then immediately smoked a highly touted prospect in Vitor Petrino. I do not find him trustworthy, so no outcome would really surprise me here.
That said … Jacoby should win this. He’s the cleaner and more powerful striekr by a significant margin, and he should be able to deny most of the takedown attempts. When his range strikes start to do damage, Walker’s clinch entries and shot attempts will grow slower and easier to deny. As long as Jacoby doesn’t gas horribly — which generally isn’t his issue — he should be able to outland and out-damage Walker to a significant degree.
