Top 5: Fighters on the rise at UFC Vegas 116
Youssef Zalal steps into the spotlight on the strength of a career-best eight-fight winning streak that now spans more than 1,200 days.
Everything seems to have clicked for Youssef Zalal . The Marc Montoya protégé faces perhaps his most difficult test to date and tries to move one step closer to contention in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division when he toes the line against Aljamain Sterling in the UFC Fight Night 274 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Zalal, 29, steps into the spotlight on the strength of a career-best eight-fight winning streak that now spans more than 1,200 days.
He last saw action at UFC 320, where he put away Team Alpha Male ’s Josh Emmett with an armbar a mere 98 seconds into their Oct. 4 encounter. It was Zalal’s fastest finish as a pro and propelled him into the Top 10 rankings at 145 pounds.
A 13-fight lineup at UFC Fight Night 274 features several fighters on the rise, with Zalal at the front of the line. Four others to monitor: Joselyne Edwards Violent predispositions have made Edwards impossible to ignore. The Panamanian hunts her latest potential victim when she zeroes in on Norma Dumont in a three-round women’s bantamweight co-main event that provides a platform for two would-be contenders at 135 pounds.
After a rather non-descript start to her UFC tenure, Edwards has hit the accelerator and pieced together a run of four straight victories. All four have resulted in finishes, highlighted by first-round knockouts of Chelsea Chandler and Priscila Cachoeira . Edwards, 30, last suited up on Feb.