A featherweight fight between Josh Emmett and Kevin Vallejos will headline UFC Fight Night 269 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas on March 14th.

Emmett has been a prominent figure in the division for years, but he’s now 40-years-old and coming off a tough run of results over the past few years, having lost four of his last five fights.

That slump began with back-to-back defeats against Yair Rodriguez and Ilia Topuria in 2023, though he did then return to the win column with a KO victory against Bryce Mitchell before the year was over.

However, after being out for the best part of a year-and-a-half as he healed from injuries, Emmett has since picked up two more defeats last year against Lerone Murphy and Youssef Zalal, though he does still hold the No.11 spot on the rankings.

Now Emmett will be going up against and up-and-coming contender in Vallejos, who is 16 years his junior at 24-years-old.

Vallejos arrived via the Contender Series in 2024 and has since gone on a three-fight winning streak that’s seen him TKO Seung Woo Choi, get the better of Danny Silva on the scorecards and then most recently KO Gigi Chikadze just last month to take the No.13 spot on the 145lb ladder.

Emmett vs. Vallejos fronts a UFC Fight Night 269 event that will also feature the likes of Ion Cutelaba vs. Oumar Sy, Amanda Lemos vs. Gillian Robertson, Brad Tavares vs. Eryk Anders and Kennedy Nzechuwku vs. Vitor Petrino.