UFC Orlando preview: A tale of 2 unlikely contenders

It took him nearly 11 years, but for the first time in his UFC career, Jeremy Stephens can call himself a contender.

After treating Gilbert Melendez to a death by a thousand calf kicks at UFC 215 and obliterating Doo Ho Choi via second-round knockout last month, the reckless banger turned calculated destroyer heads to Orlando for a pivotal featherweight matchup opposite Josh Emmett on a 41-day turnaround in UFC on FOX 28's main event.

The Stephens who compiled a checkered promotional record and starched Rafael dos Anjos with a wind-up uppercut many moons ago at UFC 91 still makes the odd appearance, but his development into the cerebral technician responsible for back-to-back wins has turned no shortage of heads over the past handful of months. The longtime Alliance MMA man's name hasn't been synonymous with consistency over a 27-fight stint in the UFC, but he'll need to make it so if he's to remain in the thick of the shark-infested waters known as the featherweight title picture.

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Standing in Stephens' way is another surprise contender in Emmett, a betting underdog who announced his arrival with an upset first-round KO of former title challenger Ricardo Lamas at UFC on FOX 26 in December. The Team Alpha Male member has proven he packs a solid wallop in his pair of wins over Lamas and Felipe Arantes, and should oblige Stephens with a firefight befitting their shared top billing at Amway Center.

Torres aims to submit breakthrough effort at Andrade's expense

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Speaking of contenders, Tecia Torres and Jessica Andrade will look to cement themselves as the challenger-in-waiting to the strawweight throne in the bill's co-headliner.

Chalk it up to an 11-fight resume boasting only one stoppage if you will, but Torres just recently earned her spot in the top tier of the 115-pound pecking order with a unanimous decision over Michelle Waterson at UFC 218 in December. Boasting victories in six of seven promotional bouts and competing in a division lacking a definitive preeminent challenger, she can render the matchmakers' charge far less burdensome with a W over her stiffest test yet in Andrade.

As for Torres' dance partner, the aptly nicknamed "Bate Estaca" (Portuguese for "piledriver") remains in the thick of the title picture despite being schooled over five rounds by the since-deposed Joanna Jedrzejczyk - who meets reigning queen Rose Namajunas in a rematch at UFC 223 - just nine months ago. Between the lopsided decision she's since picked up over Claudia Gadelha and Namajunas' still embryonic reign, Andrade's second shot at strawweight gold is still well within arm's reach.

She'll vie for her fifth victory in six fights since moving down from bantamweight in June 2016, a shift prompted - fittingly enough - by a submission loss to Torres' fiancee Raquel Pennington at UFC 191.

New camp, new Barao?

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There was a time when Renan Barao flirted with infallibility.

Nearly four years after TJ Dillashaw emphatically debunked such a notion, the former bantamweight champion who once mounted a 32-fight win streak and defended the divisional crown three times with as many stoppages seeks a second wind at 135 pounds opposite Brian Kelleher in Saturday's featured preliminary tilt.

The move follows a two-fight dalliance at featherweight that saw Barao split decisions with Stephens and Phillipe Nover, and own a rather listless, losing effort opposite Aljamain Sterling in a 140-pound catchweight bout at UFC 214 last July. Whether he can resume his dominant ways remains to be seen, but the Brazilian certainly took his talents to the right place in pursuit of a resurgence. The longtime Nova Uniao man set up camp in Florida at American Top Team, a guild that authored the championship runs of former welterweight king Robbie Lawler and reigning bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes.

Still only 30 years old, Barao - who's gotten his hand raised just twice in his past six walks to the cage - aims to prove his run through the bantamweight ranks of old was a product of his abilities as opposed to the division's dearth of talent, while Kelleher will vie for his first UFC win streak after scoring a third-round TKO of Damian Stasiak this past October.