Rising middleweight contender Brendan Allen looks to avenge a previous loss against Chris Curtis in the main event on Saturday at UFC Fight Night at UFC Apex in Las Vegas (6 p.m. ET on ESPN+, with prelims at 3 p.m. on ESPN+).
Allen (23-5), No. 9 in ESPN's middleweight rankings, has only lost twice since debuting in the UFC in 2019. Curtis, unranked by ESPN, enters this fight on short notice after Marvin Vettori withdrew due to injury. Curtis (31-10) beat Allen via second-round TKO in their previous fight in December 2021.
Also, the 2024 PFL regular season kicks off on Thursday (6 p.m. ET on ESPN+) with the heavyweights and the debut of its new women's flyweight division. At heavyweight, 2022 champion Ante Delija and Denis Goltsov, last season's runner-up, return in addition to newcomers from Bellator, Daniel James and Linton Vassell. Meanwhile, Bellator women's flyweight champ Liz Carmouche faces Juliana Velasquez in a trilogy bout, and also in her first PFL fight is former UFC title challenger Taila Santos, taking on Ilara Joanne.
Andres Waters spoke to ESPN MMA analyst Din Thomas to get his perspective on the UFC main event. ESPN's betting experts Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker add their insights and analysis on the main event and other intriguing bets they like on the UFC card. And Parker gives his best bets for "2024 PFL Regular Season: Heavyweights and Women's Flyweights."
Editor's note: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.