Allen vs Costa headline UFC Vegas 117

Arnold Allen and Melquizael Costa are set to headline UFC Fight Night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday, according to UFC event listings and ESPN’s fight-center schedule. UFC lists the event as “UFC Fight Night: Allen vs Costa,” with 13 scheduled bouts and Allen-Costa booked for five rounds at featherweight. The promotion’s event page shows the prelims beginning at 2 p.m. Pacific time and the main card at 5 p.m. Pacific time. ESPN’s schedule page also lists live coverage from Las Vegas on May 16. ### When does Allen vs. Costa start in Las Vegas? UFC’s official event page lists prelims for 2 p.m. PDT on Saturday, May 16, and the main card for 5 p.m. PDT. The same page says the event will air on UFC Fight Pass from the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. ESPN’s fight-center listing also places the card on May 16 in Las Vegas. (ufc.com) Tapology’s event page lists the main card at 5 p.m. ET, but UFC’s own event page gives the local start time as 5 p.m. PDT. For U.S. viewers, the UFC listing is the primary event reference and identifies Fight Pass as the broadcast platform. ### Why is this bout the main event? UFC lists Arnold Allen and Melquizael Costa as the top fight on the card and schedules their bout for five five-minute rounds. (ufc.com) The promotion’s preview page describes Allen-Costa as the main event and places the matchup at featherweight. UFC’s official scorecards page also identifies Allen as the No. 7 contender and Costa as the No. 12 contender entering the bout. The UFC preview says the fight comes as the featherweight division “continues to get sorted out” in the second half of the year, but that framing comes from the promotion’s own advance coverage. The verified scheduling facts are that Allen and Costa are the only fighters on the card listed for a five-round main event at 145 pounds. (ufc.com) ### Who else is on the UFC Vegas 117 card? UFC’s event page lists six fights on the main card after the prelims. The bouts named there are Dooho Choi against Daniel Santos, Malcolm Wellmaker against Juan Diaz, Modestas Bukauskas against Christian Edwards, Timmy Cuamba against Benardo Sopaj, and Nikolay Veretennikov against Khaos Williams, in addition to Allen-Costa. (ufc.com) The prelim lineup on UFC’s listing includes Tuco Tokkos against Ivan Erslan, Tommy Gantt against Artur Minev, Ketlen Vieira against Jacqueline Cavalcanti, Cody Brundage against Andre Petroski, Alice Ardelean against Polyana Viana, Daniel Barez against Luis Gurule, and Shauna Bannon against Nicolle Caliari. Tapology’s page also lists 13 fights in total for the event. (ufc.com) ### What do the official listings say about Allen and Costa? UFC’s event page shows Allen as the betting favorite at minus-120 and Costa at plus-100. The same listing identifies Allen as representing England and Costa as representing Brazil. UFC’s scorecards page and preview page place Allen at No. 7 and Costa at No. 12 in the featherweight rankings entering the night. (ufc.com) Tapology’s fighter and bout pages list Allen with a 20-4 professional record and Costa with a 26-7 record. Those pages also show the matchup as the featured bout of the Las Vegas card. ### Where can viewers follow the event as it unfolds? (ufc.com) UFC’s event page links to live results pages for both the main card and prelims. ESPN’s fight-center page also carries live coverage for the event. A live results page surfaced on Saturday as the card got underway, reflecting that the event was in progress. (tapology.com) May 16 is the scheduled event date, and UFC’s official pages indicate that results, highlights and post-fight coverage will be posted after the bouts conclude in Las Vegas. Allen and Costa remain the listed headliners for the card at Meta APEX. (ufc.com)