It is the first UFC event to take place at the Rockets’ home venue since February 2022, when UFC 271 saw Israel Adesanya defend his UFC Middleweight Championship with a unanimous decision win over Robert Whittaker after 25 minutes of action. This show also serves as the 10th UFC card to originate in Houston.
Live coverage of UFC Houston begins late Saturday afternoon with the undercard at 5:00 PM ET / 2:00 PM PT. As has now become the norm, the card is streamed from hammer to hammer Paramount Plus. The main card action follows at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT to conclude the 14-fight schedule.
UFC Houston Featured Preliminary: Chidi Njokuani vs. Carlos Leal
At the top of the bill for the undercard, the welterweights head to the legendary Octagon as Chidi Njokuani (25-11, 1 NC MMA, 5-4 UFC,) graduates from Dana White’s Contender Series, takes on Carlos Leal (22-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) in his 30th professional appearance. All fights mentioned herein are an advertised maximum of three rounds of five minutes per round.
Njokuani enters Saturday’s preliminary round of UFC Houston after going 3-2 in his last five fights. On July 12 in Nashville, he was on the receiving end of a first-round submission rear naked choke by Jake Matthews (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) in one minute and nine seconds.
Can he get back into victory lane? Tune in and find out.
On the other side, Carlos Leal will make the walk to the cage this weekend on the strength of a 3-2 record in his own right over the past five matches. He most recently dropped a first-round knockout to Muslim Salikhov (22-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the final UFC event airing on ABC on July 26.
He alternated wins and losses in his last four matches. What happens on Saturday?
UFC Houston co-featured Prelim: Ode Osbourne vs. Alibi Idiris
Immediately before that, the UFC Houston co-featured undercard sees tilt action take place in the flyweight division. Ode Osbourne (13-9, 1 NC MMA, 5-7 UFC) collides with Alibi Idiris (10-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC). Osbourne lands in the Lone Star State this weekend after going 1-4 in his past five games.
Last August, he left the Meta Apex in Enterprise, NV in a unanimous decision loss to Steve Erceg (13-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC). It’s time for Ode Osbourne on Saturday evening in the preliminary round of UFC Houston.
If the match goes the other way this weekend, it will mean five defeats from six fights for Ode Osbourne. It goes without saying that this is a crucial 15 minutes or less in the Octagon for the Osbourne camp.
Meanwhile, Alibi Idiris, who was part of the cast of the 2025 season, is active The ultimate fighter television series, has posted a 4-1 record in his last five professional appearances. In August, he made his UFC debut, being defeated by Joseph Morales (14-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) with a triangle choke in the second round of the bout.
His PhD period is still in its infancy. But only time will tell if his second outing with the company results in a win.
UFC Houston: Alden Coria vs. Luis Gurule
Also on the undercard, there will be more flyweight action in the cage this Saturday night between Alden Coria (11-3, 1 NC MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Luis Gurule (10-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC). Coria comes into this fight on the back of a 4-0 record with one no-contest in his past five fights.
He last stopped Alessandro Costa (14-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) with strikes during the third round of the bout in San Antonio in September. Coria will be in familiar territory for UFC Houston. This is his ninth straight fight in the state of Texas, and he has set up his training camp in Houston itself.
Is home cooking back on the menu this Saturday? In the other corner, Gurule will make the trek to the cage this weekend, posting a 3-2 record in his five most recent outings.
However, he has been a streaky fighter lately, dropping two fights in a row after winning three bouts. Like his opponent, he also fought at Noche UFC last September, losing (unanimous decision) to Jesus Aguilar (12-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC).
Gurule will play the role of the heel on Saturday. Can the Colorado native send the Texas crowd home with long faces?
Rest of the preliminaries
The UFC Houston undercard is completed by these fights:
- A women’s bantamweight bout between No. 12 contender Nora Cornolle (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and No. 14 contender Joselyne Edwards (16-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC)
- a welterweight matchup that pairs Ramiz Brahimaj (13-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) with Punahele Soriano (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC)
- a welterweight fight against Phil Rowe (11-6 MMA, 4-4 UFC) versus Jean-Paul Lesbosnoyani (9-2 MMA, UFC promotional debut)
- a featherweight meeting of Jordan Leavitt (12-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) with Yadier del Valle (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC)
- and a women’s flyweight bout featuring Juliana Miller (4-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) against Carli Judice (5-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC).
Which preliminaries are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.
#exciting #preliminaries #UFC #Houston #scheduled #February