UFC Fight Night 124 lineup official with 4 fights on main card for St. Louis debut

The lineup is set for a rare UFC fight card on Sunday.

UFC Fight Night 124 takes place Jan. 14 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, and it’s the promotion’s first trip to the city. The main card airs live on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Featherweight standout Jeremy Stephens (26-14 MMA, 13-13 UFC) headlines his third UFC card when he takes on South Korean Doohoo Choi (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who’s said he wants a title shot before reporting for mandatory military service. Choi is returning from an injury layoff that sidelined him for 2017.

The co-headliner features a middleweight bout between former UFC champ Vitor Belfort (26-13 MMA, 15-10 UFC) and Uriah Hall (13-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC). Belfort has repeatedly flirted with retirement during his current losing skid, only to change his mind after a decision win over Nate Marquardt.

“The Phenom,” an honorable mention in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, now wants to fight five more times before hanging up his gloves.

Hall, meanwhile, was on three-fight lost skid before recently stopping Krzysztof Jotko via second-round knockout. A win over Belfort would be a notable name to add to his resume.

Also featured on the main card is the return of women’s strawweight starlet Paige VanZant (7-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who hopes to rebound from a submission loss and injury layoff with a win over Jessica-Rose Clark (8-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC). And surging welterweight standout Kamaru Usman (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), the No. 9 ranked welterweight, hopes to make his case for a title shot when he fights Emil Meek (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who made his octagon debut 13 months ago with a decision win over tough veteran Jordan Mein. The fight is a rebooking from a scheduled UFC 219 faceoff that didn’t materialize.

The featured prelim on FS1 includes the return of featherweight vet Darren Elkins (23-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC), who’s riding a five-fight winning streak. Elkins, who’s No. 10 at 145 pounds, most notably delivered a “Comeback of the Year” candidate this past March against Mirsad Bektic. He faces off with No. 13 lightweight Michael Johnson (17-12 MMA, 9-8 UFC), who’s looking to reinvent himself at 145 pounds after delivering one half of MMAjunkie’s “2017 Round of the Year” winner.

On the UFC Fight Pass prelims, UFC women’s bantamweight vet Jessica Eye (11-6 MMA, 1-5 UFC) finally gets a chance to start over as a flyweight, taking on Kalindra Faria (18-6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who stumbled out of the gate in her octagon debut at 125 pounds.

The full UFC Fight Night 124 card includes:

MAIN CARD (FS1, 10 p.m. ET)

• Jeremy Stephens vs. Dooho Choi
• Vitor Belfort vs. Uriah Hall
• Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Paige VanZant
• Emil Meek vs. Kamaru Usman

PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Darren Elkins vs. Michael Johnson
• James Krause vs. Alex White
• Matt Frevola vs. Marco Polo Reyes
• Thiago Alves vs. Zak Cummings

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6 p.m. ET)

• Jessica Eye vs. Kalindra Faria
• Irene Aldana vs. Talita Bernardo
• J.J. Aldrich vs. Danielle Taylor
• Mads Burnell vs. Mike Santiago
• Kyung Ho Kang vs. Guido Cannetti

For more on UFC Fight Night 124, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.