UFC Fight Night 257

UFC Fight Night 257
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	May 17, 2025 (2025-5-17)
Venue	UFC Apex
City	Enterprise, Nevada, United States
Event chronology
UFC 315: Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena UFC Fight Night 257 UFC Fight Night 258

UFC Fight Night 257 (also known as UFC Vegas 106) is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on May 17, 2025, at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Valley, United States. ^[1]

Background

Initially, there were reports that the event would take place at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. ^{[2] [3]} However, the event location was changed to the UFC Apex for unknown reasons. ^[1]

A heavyweight bout between former interim UFC Heavyweight Championship challenger Curtis Blaydes and promotional newcomer Rizvan Kuniev is scheduled for this event. ^[4] The pairing was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song ^[5] , then shifted to UFC 313 and was eventually cancelled a few hours before the event after Blaydes had to pull out due to an undisclosed illness. ^{[6] [7]}

Announced bouts

• Middleweight bout: Park Jun-yong vs. Ismail Naurdiev ^[8]
• Heavyweight bout: Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Mohammed Usman ^[9]
• Heavyweight bout: Serghei Spivac vs. Shamil Gaziev ^[10]
• Heavyweight bout: Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev ^[4]
• Light Heavyweight bout: Johnny Walker vs. Azamat Murzakanov ^[11]
• Women's Bantamweight bout: Luana Santos vs. Tainara Lisboa ^[12]

See also

• 2025 in UFC
• List of current UFC fighters
• List of UFC events

References

1. Kang Daeho (2025-03-14). "Fight Night 259, Qatar → APEX". mk.co.kr. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
2. Alonso Gómez (2025-02-26). "The UFC will land in Qatar". as.com. Retrieved 2025-02-26.(in Spanish)
3. Irati Prat (2025-02-26). "The UFC will land for the first time in Qatar on May 17". marca.com. Retrieved 2025-02-26.(in Spanish)
4. Alexander Behunin (2025-03-11). "Third time's a charm? Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev rebooked for UFC Qatar on May 17". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
5. Alexander K. Lee (2024-12-13). "Curtis Blaydes' return set for UFC Seattle". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
6. Mike Bohn (2025-02-12). "Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev shifted from Seattle to UFC 313 in Las Vegas". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
7. Harvey Leonard (2025-03-08). "Two UFC 313 fights canceled hours before the event, including Curtis Blaydes' return". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
8. Kang Daeho (2025-02-26). "Park Jun-yong will face Ismail Nourdiev (29, Austria/Morocco) in a middleweight (84kg) match at the UFC Fight Night Qatar on May 17". mk.co.kr. Retrieved 2025-02-26.
9. Michael Aldon (2025-02-26). "Brother of Former UFC Champion Fighting to Save His Career". yardbarker.com. Retrieved 2025-02-26.
10. Kirill Ivanov (2025-02-28). "Сергей Спивак и Шамиль Газиев могут провести бой 17 мая". allboxing.ru. Retrieved 2025-02-28.(in Russian)
11. Mike Bohn (2025-03-12). "UFC books Johnny Walker vs. Azamat Murzakanov". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
12. Caio Vieira (2025-03-14). "UFC encaminha Tainara Lisboa e Luana Santos para o card de Las Vegas". agfight.com. Retrieved 2025-03-14.(in Brazilian Portuguese)