UFC Fight Night at the Apex Best Betting Picks and Predictions

After a back-to-back pair of numbered cards to kick off its 2026 campaign, the UFC hosts its first Fight Night event of the year at the newly branded Meta Apex in Las Vegas. The UFC’s headquarters has recently hosted the first two Zuffa Boxing events, and it now hosts its first UFC-produced card since the rebranding.

The main event will feature a clash of bantamweight contenders as Mario Bautista takes on Vinicius Oliveira. After starting his Octagon tenure off 2-2, Bautista won eight in a row – including wins over Jose Aldo and Patchy Mix – before a loss to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 321. Oliveira has been on a tear himself since his arrival to the UFC in 2024, winning four straight, including victories over Ricky Simon, Said Nurmagomedov, and Kyler Phillips.

The co-main event will be the sophomore appearance of Kyoji Horiguchi, as he takes on Amir Albazi in a pivotal flyweight matchup. Albazi has been dealing with injuries and will be competing in the Octagon for the first time since his November 2024 loss to former champ Brandon Moreno. Horiguchi, the former Bellator and RIZIN champion, submitted Tagir Ulanbekov in his UFC debut at UFC Qatar in November, earning himself a performance bonus.

The rest of the main card will feature Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev, Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Marc-Andre Barriault, Jean Matsumoto vs. Farid Basharat, and Dustin Jacoby vs. Julius Walker.

JAILTON ALMEIDA VS. RIZVAN KUNIEV

I’ll give Rizvan Kuniev his props. He’s got power in his hands and proved his ability to finish while on the regional circuit. And he managed to go toe-to-toe with Curtis Blaydes, a former heavyweight title challenger, and many will say he should have gotten the nod in that split decision. Admittedly, however, that’s bad when Kuniev managed to get into the heavyweight rankings on a loss, and one of your own top heavyweights nearly loses like that to a debuting UFC fighter.

And the problem for Kuniev here is he’s taking on Jailton Almeida, who sits just outside the top-5 at heavyweight. Almeida has scored finishes in all but one of his MMA wins, and he has faced names like Blaydes, Derrick Lewis, and Serghei Spivac. He comes into this bout off a close, split decision loss to Alexander Volkov in a title eliminator. Better competition history + extra motivation = confidence. I can’t believe the odds in this one aren’t even a little higher.

BET: Almeida to win (Moneyline) (DraftKings: -155)

DUSTIN JACOBY VS. JULIUS WALKER

I see a few parallels in this next play here, too. Julius Walker ran through competition on the regional circuit to become a champion before his time in the UFC. He and Alonzo Menifield put on a solid Fight of the Night in his February 2022 debut, losing a split decision. He then beat Raffael Cerqueira in August.

Walker has shown he’s able to compete in the UFC; however, Dustin Jacoby is an expert striker with world-class kickboxing experience. Jacoby hasn’t always had all the success in the Octagon, but his resume has seen him score solid finishes and face up against some really strong competition. Plenty of MMA fans expect one way for this fight to go, and I’m with them.

BET: Jacoby to win (Moneyline) (Caesars: -170)

MUIN GAFUROV VS. JAKUB WIKLACZ

I understand Muin Gafurov is at 20 wins and has competed in notable promotions around the globe, including LFA, UAE Warriors, and ONE Championship. But he’s 2-2 in the UFC, and the two wins he’s coming off of were surprises. He hasn’t looked like a world beater in his appearances, and for Jakub Wiklacz, this feels like a step backward.

Wiklacz is an experienced former KSW bantamweight champion. I know there’s a lot of talk about his win over Patchy Mix, the former Bellator champ who just parted ways with the UFC, and Mix’s credibility and performances. But Mix is still a notable name and Wiklacz got a win over him – that should still be worthy of something more than an early prelim card bout against Gafurov. And somehow Wiklacz is the UNDERDOG here?

BET: Wiklacz to win (Moneyline) (BetMGM: +120)