The UFC heads back to the Apex after some time on the road for a stacked fight night event.

Headlining this fight card are two surging featherweight contenders, UFC veteran Edson Barboza and the undefeated Lerone Murphy as they take center inside the Octagon looking to move up the rankings with a victory on Saturday.

We take a look at this main event fight and give out our prediction and pick for this Barboza-Murphy matchup.

Edson Barboza (24-11)?made the move down to the featherweight division back in 2020 after a split-decision defeat to Paul Felder. However, his debut at his new weight class didn't go as planned dropping another highly questionable split decision against Dan Ige.

Since losing his first fight at his new weight class he's won four out of his last six and has seemingly turned back time in his last two victories after dropping back-to-back fights before his recent stretch of wins.

Now, Barboza will be looking to extend his winning streak to three in a row when he steps into another main event spot at the UFC Apex when he takes on the undefeated Lerone Murphy.

In Barboza's last victory, he had to weather the early storm against Sodiq Yusuff who put a hurting on him early in that fight but the veteran that Barboza is he was able to not break and stay in the fight and drown Yusuff as he faded down the stretch.

This should be the same game plan he should have against the surging Lerone Murphy. Murphy is a well-rounded fighter who can mix things up on the feet as well as on the mat but much like Yusuff he will be at a distinct disadvantage if he tries to kickbox with Barboza for 25 minutes.

Also, the lack of five-round experience will be a detriment to his game as it was for Yusuff.

For Barboza, he will need to utilize his impeccable takedown defense to keep this fight on the feet where he could then utilize his striking at range to then pick apart Murphy down the stretch, and if he can do that he can extend his winning streak to three.

Lerone Murphy (13-0-1)?has been surging up the featherweight rankings with five consecutive victories inside the Octagon and a perfect 13-0-1 record. He's most recently coming off a dominant decision victory against Josh Culibao.

Murphy will now will be looking to extend his winning ways when he takes on his toughest opposition to date this weekend when he takes on Edson Barboza.

Murphy is a very good striker who likes to utilize his boxing to his advantage and land heavy strikes at range. While his grappling isn't his go-to gameplan in most of his fights, he still has landed takedowns in all but two of his fights inside the Octagon.

We know that Murphy would like to go in there and put the pressure on Barboza by getting past his kicks and getting into boxing range.

However, in this matchup against a veteran like Barboza, Murphy will need to utilize all his tools to get the job done which includes his grappling.

Murphy is going to need to bring the fight to Barboza early as we know that Barboza is a notoriously slow starter. If Murphy can mix things up, be the aggressor, crowd the kicking of Barboza he can continue his dominance and keep his unbeaten streak alive with a victory this weekend at UFC Vegas 92.

UFC VEGAS 92: EDSON BARBOZA VS. LERONE MURPHY FANDUEL ODDS FOR MAY 18

MONEY LINE

• EDSON BARBOZA: +124
• LERONE MURPHY: -146

PROPS

• EDSON BARBOZA BY POINTS: +460
• EDSON BARBOZA BY SUBMISSION: +2000
• EDSON BARBOZA BY KNOCKOUT/TKO: +270
• LERONE MURPHY BY POINTS: +180
• LERONE MURPHY BY KNOCKOUT/TKO: +320
• LERONE MURPHY BY SUBMISSION: +1600

OVER/UNDER (ROUNDS TOTAL)

• OVER 3.5 ROUNDS (-160)
• UNDER 3.5 ROUNDS (+126)

BEST UFC VEGAS 92 ODDS FOR EDSON BARBOZA VS. LERONE MURPHY

• Edson Barboza is the underdog. DraftKings currently has the best odds at (+130)

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• Lerone Murphy is the favorite against Edson Barboza. FanDuel currently has the best odds at (-146)
• FanDuel currently has the best odds for the total, which is set at 3.5 Rounds (-160) for the over, and (+126) for the under

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4.5/5

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FINAL BARBOZA-MURPHY PICK & PREDICTION

This is a fantastic main event fight for this UFC Vegas 92 fight night event. Barboza will be looking to do what he does best and that is stay at range and utilize his kicks to keep Murphy at bay.

Meanwhile, Murphy will want to crowd the kicking of Barboza to get into boxing range to land his boxing combinations and get into the clinch.

Ultimately, it's going to be Murphy coming out strong early putting the pressure on Barboza putting his back to the cage, and mixing in the takedowns while Barboza will be landing some good strikes at range throughout this fight it's going to be Murphy who outworks Barboza throughout this fight getting the biggest victory of his career and extending his unbeaten streak to 14-0-1.

FINAL BARBOZA-MURPHY PICK & PREDICTION: LERONE MURPHY (-146)

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