5 things to watch out for at UFC Fight Night: Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates

The UFC is set to head back to the Las Vegas APEX this weekend for a Fight Night event. Overall, it looks like a solid card.

UFC Fight Night: Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates features some intriguing bouts across multiple divisions, with a key welterweight headliner.

So what can we expect at the APEX this weekend? Hopefully plenty of action and a few questions answered.

Here are five things to watch out for at UFC Fight Night: Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates.

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#5. Can Da'Mon Blackshear save his UFC career?

It doesn't feel that long ago that there was a lot of hype around bantamweight Da'Mon Blackshear.

August 2023 saw 'Da Monster' use the ultra-rare twister hold to submit Jose Johnson, taking his overall UFC record to 2-1-1. It felt like he had the potential to climb the ladder.

Unfortunately, Blackshear came off the rails in his very next fight, losing to Mario Bautista, and most recently, was knocked out badly by Montel Jackson.

This weekend will see Blackshear take on Cody Stamann in what should be a crucial bout for him. It's hard for any fighter to survive three losses in a row, and a defeat to 'The Spartan' could end Blackshear's UFC career.

However, 'Da Monster' will be confident, given Stamann is on a recent run of just two wins in seven fights.

If Blackshear can get back to form, then he could still make some noise. After all, both Bautista and Jackson are now ranked in the top fifteen at 135 pounds. One thing is for certain, though - he must win this weekend.

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#4. Will the UFC's female submission machine strike again?

This weekend's main card will open with a strawweight bout between Luana Pinheiro and Gillian Robertson. So, the obvious thing to watch out for is Robertson's submission game.

'The Savage' is not a hugely notable grappler like Mackenzie Dern or Tatiana Suarez, but she is in fact a surprising UFC record holder. With seven tapout wins to her name, no female fighter has more submissions than her in the promotion's history.

However, finesse is not really Robertson's game. Instead, she tends to bully her foes to the ground and snatch up opportunistic holds - particularly the rear naked choke - after punishing them first.

Given that Pinheiro suffered a tapout loss to kickboxer Angela Hill in her last fight, this one feels tailor-made for Robertson. Despite her record, she hasn't actually submitted a foe since April 2023.

Based on the trends coming in, though, that's likely to change here, pushing her further along in the record books ahead of her rivals.

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#3 What can Reinier de Ridder do in his octagon debut?

Given the dearth of real competitors for the UFC these days, most of the fighters debuting in the octagon tend to be prospects looking to make their mark at the top.

It's rare that a fighter comes in with a big reputation from one of the handful of bigger promotions, which is why the debut of Reinier de Ridder is so fascinating.

'The Dutch Knight' made his name in ONE Championship, claiming both the middleweight and light-heavyweight titles there en route to putting together an impressive 16-0 record.

De Ridder did eventually lose both of his titles to the same fighter - Anatoly Malykhin - but he still looks like the kind of fighter who could make a dent in the octagon.

Whether the grappling-based star has enough to deal with the dangerous Gerald Meerschaert in his debut is a fair question, of course. 'GM3' is not a top-ranked fighter, but he's a deadly finisher in every area, and is more than capable of pushing the Dutchman.

Therefore, seeing whether de Ridder can sink or swim in his octagon debut should be one of the most fascinating things about this weekend's event.

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#2 Cody Garbrandt will hope to get his comeback on the rails again

After his failed run as a flyweight came to an end at the hands of Kai Kara-France in December 2021, it was easy to write off Cody Garbrandt entirely.

The former UFC bantamweight king had gone 1-5 in his last six fights, and looked more likely to announce his retirement than climb back into contention.

'No Love' proved everyone wrong, though, by returning in 2023 to defeat both Trevin Jones and Brian Kelleher. He didn't quite look back to his best, but the possibility of a genuine comeback definitely looked promising.

However, Garbrandt's momentum was arrested earlier this year, when he was soundly defeated by Deiveson Figueiredo.

Whether this loss is as bad as it seemed at the time, though, is debatable. 'Deus da Guerra', after all, looks like he's on his way to a possible title shot at 135 pounds.

This weekend, then, is Garbrandt's chance to get his comeback back onto the rails. Faced with a very beatable opponent - albeit one on a fantastic run of four fights unbeaten - in Miles Johns, 'No Love' cannot really afford to lose.

At his best, Garbrandt is a truly fantastic fighter who has the potential to give anyone in the UFC problems. How much he has left, though, is still a question mark, and it could be something we find out this weekend.

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#1 Can Neil Magny keep the welterweight gate shut on another hot prospect?

Long considered the UFC's toughest welterweight gatekeeper, Neil Magny's assignment this weekend is a simple one: he needs to keep the gate to the top ten firmly shut for hot prospect Carlos Prates.

On the face of it, it's a very difficult challenge for 'The Haitian Sensation'. Not only is Prates 3-0 in the octagon, but 'The Nightmare' absolutely destroyed the tough Li Jingliang in his last fight. He's knocked out his last nine opponents.

However, these kind of odds are nothing that Magny has not faced before. His last win, in fact, saw him batter Mike Malott - a fighter who came into their bout with three straight finishes in the octagon.

Naturally, it'd be better for the future of the division for Prates to win, as with the likes of Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns beginning to slow down, new blood is needed at 170 pounds.

That's why Magny is so important, though. 'The Haitian Sensation' separates the real contenders from the wannabes so well that beating him means a hell of a lot.

Whether Prates can pull it off, then - or whether he finds himself outside looking in - is this weekend's key question.