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The Real Winners and Losers From UFC on ESPN 48

It's a quantity/quality thing.

Though the UFC's Saturday night card at the Apex in Las Vegas isn't exactly littered with names recognizable beyond the hardcore fan set, that's not at all indicative of the value of the matches up and down the 12-bout card.

In fact, no fewer than seven of the 24 fighters involved have rankings numbers alongside their names going in, including three fights between ranked commodities and a main event featuring seventh-ranked middleweight contender Sean Strickland.

Strickland arrives while still on the rebound from consecutive losses to Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier in the back half of 2022, though he did get back on the winning side of the ledger with a decision over Nassourdine Imavov in January.