After an extended hiatus that was essentially self-imposed, featherweight contender Josh Emmett returned to action on Saturday, set to face off against undefeated Brit Lerone Murphy.
Emmett’s exodus from the sport, time off that lasted over a year, was about getting back to where he needed to be. No specific injury, no specific flaw in his game, just the realization that he had not been competing at 100% despite facing off against the top names at 145lbs.
Josh Emmett’s last action had come in December of 2023, when he devastated Bryce Mitchell, battering “Thug Nasty” so badly that Mitchell thanked him for holding off and not doing even more damage while he lay prone on the canvas. As for Murphy, he had been chugging along, with a draw against Zubaira Tukhugov in the English fighter’s UFC debut the closest he’d come to a loss.
Kicking off Saturday’s UFC Vegas 105, The Ultimate Fighter 32 finalist Robert Valentin was paired up with three-time Dana White’s Contender Series winner Torrez Finney in middleweight action.
As always, our picks are in for the UFC Vegas 105 main card! Read below to see who we feel comes away with the win at Saturday’s Fight Night event.
| Writer / Fight | Finney vs. Valentin | Osbourne vs. Gurule | Tavares vs. Meerschaert | Romious vs. Lee | Sabatini vs. Brito | Emmett vs. Murphy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddie Law (36-20) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Alex Behunin (35-21) | |  |  | |  |  |
| Jay Anderson (34-22) |  | | | | | |
| Patrick McCorry (34-22) | | | | | | |
| Brett Cagle (34-22) | | | | | | |
| Mathis Desjardins (32-24) | | | | | | |
There was just one unanimous selection among our team this week, and that’s Chang Ho Lee. Every writer responding sees him getting the better of Cortavious Romious in a bantamweight scrap. The oddsmakers also have Lee as a slight favorite in the fight.
Torrez Finney was a strong favorite to get past TUF 32 finalist Robert Valentin in the main card opener, with just a single writer choosing Valentin to get the win. Joanderson Brito had a similar margin over Pat Sabatini in the night’s co-main event.
As for the UFC Vegas 105 headliner, our staff was split but sided with Josh Emmett by a 4-3 margin.
