Lou Finocchiaro

“UFC Fight Night” on ESPN drops Saturday from the Apex Center in Las Vegas with 11 scheduled fights. From 115-pound female mixed martial artists to 265-pound heavyweight behemoths, this card offers some fascinating matchups featuring athletes from around the globe.

The highly anticipated UFC 254 from Fight Island in the United Arab Emirates drops this weekend. Preliminary bouts begin at 10:15 a.m. ET Saturday (7:15 a.m. PT), with the main card set for 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT). The UFC altered the start time to accommodate the sea of fight fans from the other side of the world who support Khabib Nurmagomedov passionately. The UFC believes this new time setup will account for more pay-per-view buys.

The UFC vacation on Fight Island continues Saturday on ESPN+ with “Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie,” a terrific clash of top-five talent in the highly competitive featherweight division. Here are my picks for the card._x000D_

This week the main event from UFC’s Fight Island is a bantamweight bout, but it’s in the ultra-competitive men’s division championed by Russian Petr Yan. Here are my best bets for the card.

It seems like weekly UFC slates have joined death and taxes as life’s certainties. This week the Apex Center in Las Vegas hosts a final domestic Fight Night before the organization ships to Abu Dhabi to resume the Fight Island productions. At the Apex, fighters compete in a smaller 25-foot octagon, which enhances confrontation. This week I’ll be mostly focused on bouts held at welterweight (170 pounds) or heavier. Larger fighters will have much less room to evade confrontation.