UFC Fight Night 253 will take place in Las Vegas on the night of March 2 and will be headlined by a fight between Kape and Almabayev. On the eve of the event participants underwent a weigh-in procedure, which resulted in the card losing two fights at once. Castaneda vs. De Andrade and Carolina vs. De La Rossa were canceled.
Main bouts
Manel Kape (126 lbs. / 57.2 kg) - Asu Almabaev (126 lbs. / 57.2 kg)
Cody Brandage (186 lbs. / 84.4 kg) - Julian Marquez (186 lbs. / 84.4 kg)
Nasrat Haqparast (156 lbs. / 70.8 kg) - Esteban Ribovich (156 lbs. / 70.8 kg)
Haider Amil (146 lbs. / 66.2 kg) - William Gomis (146 lbs. / 66.2 kg)
Danny Barlow (170.5 lbs. / 77.3 kg) - Sam Patterson (170.5 lbs. / 77.3 kg)
Preliminary bouts
Austin Lane (249.5 lbs. / 113.2 kg) - Mario Pinto (246.5 lbs. / 111.8 kg)
Jose Mariscal (146 lbs. / 66.2 kg) - Ricardo Ramos (146 lbs. / 66.2 kg)
Lucas Almeida (148 lbs. / 67.1 kg)* - Danny Silva (145.5 lbs. / 66 kg)
J.J. Aldrich (126 lbs. / 57.2 kg) - Andrea Lee (126 lbs. / 57.2 kg)
Charles Johnson (125 lbs / 56.7 kg) - Ramazan Temirov (125.5 lbs / 56.9 kg)
