Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just one day away from its UFC Vegas 114 mixed martial arts (MMA) event taking place tomorrow night (Saturday, March 14, 2026) on Paramount+ from inside the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC Vegas 114 Featuring a featherweight main event between some of the best fighters in the 145-pound division. Josh Emmett and Kevin VallejosIt’s a five-round matchup that could shake up the division’s top 15.
Before we get into the main event and co-main event, which features a 115-pound clash between top-10 ranked strawweight contenders. Amanda Lemos and Gillian RobertsonClick here to check out Andrew Richardson’s “X-Factor” analysis of the rest of the UFC Vegas 114 main card. Get all the latest “Emmett vs. Vallejos” odds and betting props from FanDuel right here.
145 lbs: Josh Emmett vs. Kevin Vallejos
Josh “CC0” Emmett
record: 19-6 | age: 41 | betting lines: +400
victory: 7 KO/TKO, 2 serves, December 10 | casualty: 1 KO/TKO, 2 serves, 3 DEC
key: 5’6” | reach: 70” | location: authentic
Significant hits per minute: 3.72 | Amazing accuracy: 35%
Hits absorbed per minute: 4.43 | stand out defense: 60%
Takedown Average: 1.08 (Accuracy 37%) | Takedown Defense: 43%
current ranking: No. 11 | last fight: Youssef Zalal’s submission loss
Kevin “El Chino” Vallejos
record: 17-1 | age: 24 | Betting Line:-535
victory: 12 KO/TKO, 2 serves, December 3 | casualty: KO/TKO 0 times, sub 0 times, December 1st
key: 5’7“ | reach: 68 inches | location: switch
There was a significant strike per minute.: 5.78 | Amazing accuracy: 46%
Hits absorbed per minute: 4.71 | stand out defense: 56%
Takedown Average: 0.71 (28% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 83%
current ranking: No. 14 | last fight: KO win over Giga Chikaze
Josh Emmett had a good run early in his UFC career. He won 9 of his first 11 fights in the Octagon, and with 5 straight wins, he ranked 5th in the official featherweight rankings. This figure is 4 places ahead of Ilya Topuria. Then bad luck struck, or perhaps he lost his battle with Father Time. Maybe both? Whatever the case, Emmett has lost two in a row and four of his last five, and has lost two of his last four. He certainly has the power, as shown in the UFC 296 snuff film featuring Bryce Mitchell, but this was his only knockout win in six years.
Technically speaking, Emmett is a below-average striker, landing only 35% of the strikes he throws. This is worse than Mackenzie Dern (41%). Just to give you some perspective. His nickname “CC0” was removed from the Creative Commons Zero NFT because Emmett is one of the strange cryptocurrency brothers. That has nothing to do with his bout this weekend, but it does tell us that Emmett, 41, is already thinking about his future after the fight. So he probably recognized that the end was near.
“I’m delusionally optimistic right now,” Emmett told reporters at UFC Vegas 114 media day. “I know exactly what I can do and what I can achieve. I can compete with the best in the world and I have shown it many times before. I have the same mindset. I still want to be a world champion. I will be a world champion, but I have to go out there and be me and raise my hand and then we will slowly make our way to the top. I am on a one-way road to the top and I don’t care who comes. Me.”
The top of the stadium is more of the same.
“Kevin is great. He’s a great fighter.” Emmett added. “He’s not going to show me anything I haven’t seen before. Just keep your chin down, keep your hands up, move, take it minute by minute, round by round, and the end will come. I’m not going to go out and force it. I know I can do it and I know it will happen. The bonuses will definitely come. We’ll probably get two. I’m just going to be myself. I’m going to go out and be calm.”
Vallejos has been an unexpected surprise and much-needed addition to the featherweight class over the past 12 months. “El Chino” earned the call back in late 2023 after a brief performance against Jean Silva on Dana White’s “Contender Series” with two consecutive finishes on the regional circuit. In the second “Contender Series,” he raced to a first-round finish against Cam Teague. Vallejos has recorded two dirty knockouts in three trips to the Octagon, including a second-round demolition of Giga Chikadze to close out 2025. It’s an especially satisfying ending considering how much trash the so-called “Ninja” is talking about. Sportsbooks are expecting a similar result on Saturday, with the huge margin on the moneyline reflecting the 24-year-old Argentine’s youth and speed.
“I think I can knock him out. I’m not saying I can’t,” Vallejos told reporters at UFC Vegas 114 media day. “This is MMA. Anything can happen. He can knock me out. I can knock him out. But honestly, I feel like this would be a dream come true in the sense that I would dream of having a dirty, bloody war for five rounds where we kill each other. That’s something I’m pretty excited about.”
Great for UFC fans, but not so great for your long-term health.
“When they offered me the fight, the first thing that came to my mind was the KO of Bryce Mitchell,” Vallejos continued. “But it’s a huge challenge and it excites me because I love fights like this. I’m a huge fan of Josh, so it’s also an honor to be able to fight a legend of the sport.”
To qualify as a “legend” you have to do something legendary, and I’m not sure Emmett has done that in his UFC career. He hasn’t won against anyone currently ranked in the top 15 of the division and aside from the Mitchell fight, he hasn’t looked good in years. Nonetheless, he remains dangerous for as long as this fight lasts, and Vallejos has yet to endure the cardiovascular challenges of a five-round fight. That said, “El Chino” is a better striker, a better athlete, and a clear candidate to close the show. Unless he gets cocky and starts showing off or rushes in looking for the finish, this should be a second round shooting gallery.
prediction: Vallejos def. Emmett by technical knockout
115 pounds: Amanda Lemos vs. Gillian Robertson
Amanda “Amandinha” Lemos
record: 15-5-1 | age: 38 | betting lines: +170
victory: 8 KO/TKO, 3 serves, December 4 | casualty: 1 KO/TKO, 2 serves, 2 DEC
key: 5’4“ | reach: 65 inches | location: southpaw
Significant hits per minute: 2.75 | Amazing accuracy: 55%
Hits absorbed per minute: 3.24 | stand out defense: 45%
Takedown Average: 1.02 (accuracy 62%) | Takedown Defense: 64%
current ranking: No. 5 | last fight: Unanimous decision loss to Tatiana Suarez
Gillian “The Savage” Robertson
record: 16-8 | age: 30 | Betting Line:-205
victory: 3 KO/TKO, 9 serves, December 4 | casualty: 1 KO/TKO, 1 serve, 6 December
key: 5’5“ | reach: 63” | location: authentic
There was a significant strike per minute.: 2.86 | Amazing accuracy: 48%
Hits absorbed per minute: 2.86 | stand out defense: 56%
Takedown Average: 2.74 (accuracy 40%) | Takedown Defense: 41%
current ranking: No. 8 | last fight: Technical knockout victory over Marina Rodriguez.
Amanda Lemos is off to a pretty good start to her UFC career, winning seven of her first nine fights and defeating strawweights like Angela Hill and Marina Rodriguez. The result earned her the 115-pound crown, held at the time by Zhang Weili, while Lemos dominated all five rounds and was relegated to gatekeeper for the next two years. Results were mixed. Lemos is 2-2 in that span, but is coming off a win over current strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern. “Amandinha” turns 39 in just a few weeks. Unlike Josh Emmett in the UFC Vegas 114 main event, this could be a case of Lemos running out of time before he pulls off another major accomplishment.
Lemos disagrees:
“I think I’ll get a win against Jillian on Saturday and maybe one or two more, and the fact that I beat Mackenzie I think it’s a matter of getting closer to the belt, but let’s wait and see,” Lemos told reporters at UFC Vegas 114 media day. “We’re going to suppress her game and make sure she gets the win without forcing her to do what she wants. I think she’s going to try to take me down and we’re going to use that opportunity to frustrate her and take her down.”
Gillian Robertson has found new opportunities in her combat sports life after switching weight classes. Once a middling flyweight, the Canadian is now 5-1 at strawweight and has won four straight with two knockouts. Like Lemos, Robertson is a prolific finisher with 12 stoppages in his 16 wins, but unlike his “Sin City” counterpart, “The Savage” is only 30 years old and still in his competitive prime. She averages nearly three takedowns per fight and will no doubt be looking to put up a ground fight against the longer and trickier Brazilian. “Amandinha” is a capable offensive wrestler in his own right and very strong in the division, so there’s also a risk that Lemos could turn things around. I think this fight comes down to Robertson’s gas tank being able to take advantage of the wear and tear on Lemos. Assume she actually lost a step.
“This will be my fifth straight win as I have the most finishes and the most submissions of any female fighter,” Robertson told reporters at UFC Vegas 114 media day. “I don’t know why I don’t deserve to win the title after this. I think this is a fight that’s been in the works for years at this point. Mackenzie was such a highly regarded grappler outside of the UFC, and then he became a submission queen inside the UFC. That’s what everyone wanted to see, so why not the belt? It really has to be in hand. [Lemos] Then the fight will end.”
Robertson is likely to get off to a tough start as Lemos will probably come out like a bull in a china shop. If “The Savage” can survive the early blitz, I think she will slowly chip away at the older Brazilian, breaking her down over time and finishing her late.
Prediction: Robertson def. Submitted via Lemos
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our UFC Vegas 114 main card predictions right here.