3 storylines to watch at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen

Bantamweight contenders Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen will meet Saturday in the UFC Fight Night headliner at Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Here are three key storylines heading into the event:

Will Moraes jump Sterling for the next title shot?

This weekend's main event is an important fight no matter what, but the stakes are starting to seem even higher than initially expected.

Moraes is the No. 1 bantamweight, just below champion Petr Yan, and Sandhagen comes in at No. 4. This is a battle of top contenders, so it's obviously a big deal. When the fight was announced, however, No. 2 Aljamain Sterling was all but locked in as Yan's next challenger - and rightfully so, given his five-fight winning streak.

There's been chatter in recent days about Moraes getting the next title shot if he beats Sandhagen. And that appears to be a legitimate possibility.

Yan teased on Twitter earlier this week that the UFC is looking to move away from the Sterling fight for his first title defense, noting the bantamweight contender "should be worried."

The UFC's marketing of Saturday's event also seems to indicate Moraes could be next in line if he beats Sandhagen. Moraes himself said he believes there's a chance he would get the next crack at Yan. Moraes knocked out Sterling in 2017 - before Sterling went on his five-fight winning streak - but most recently beat Jose Aldo in a fight that Dana White scored for Aldo.

Sterling, seemingly at risk of being passed over for the next title shot, doesn't appear overly confident he'll be next in line regardless of the Moraes-Sandhagen outcome:

For some reason, the UFC is hesitant to give Sterling a title shot. White said before Sterling's fight against Sandhagen in June that it was a No. 1 contender bout. But after Sterling won with an impressive first-round submission, White wouldn't guarantee Sterling was next in line for Yan.

Months later, White finally said Sterling would likely get the next title shot, but there's been no recent talk of that clash being finalized. And because Yan-Sterling still isn't a done deal - even though Sterling has been calling out the champion left and right - it's hard to be confident that the UFC is still eyeing Sterling as the next 135-pound title challenger. It feels like something else is in the works, and that very well could be Yan-Moraes depending on the outcome of this weekend's main event.

Barboza looking to turn his career around

Former lightweight contender Edson Barboza enters his sophomore appearance in the featherweight division on the worst losing streak of his career.

Barboza has lost two fights in a row and is 1-5 in his past six outings. The Brazilian will have a chance to turn his career around against Makwan Amirkhani, who's filling in on short notice as a 2-1 underdog.

But Barboza's skid doesn't quite tell the whole story. His 145-pound debut against rising contender Dan Ige in May could've gone either way. In fact, 16 of 18 media members who submitted scorecards to MMADecisions.com had it for Barboza.

Before that, 13 of 16 media members thought Barboza beat Paul Felder -currently one of the top lightweight contenders - in their September 2019 rematch.

If two judges had marked their scorecards differently, Barboza could be on a two-fight winning streak and likely getting ready to fight a top featherweight. Plus, Barboza's legitimate losses during his 1-5 skid were against Justin Gaethje, Kevin Lee, and current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov - not the worst defeats you can have on your record.

Though he may be a little past his prime at 34 years old, there's no indication Barboza is done. That said, it's important he beats Amirkhani. If he falls short, then that conversation can begin. Until then, it seems there's actually a decent chance he could become a featherweight contender starting with Saturday's bout.

As long as the scorecards go his way, of course.

Other fights to keep an eye on

Fans should watch out for Youssef Zalal, a featherweight prospect who will become one of the first UFC fighters to compete four times in 2020. The surging 24-year-old will also have the chance to become the first to go 4-0 this year.

Zalal, who only made his Octagon debut earlier in 2020, is set to meet Ilia Topuria, an undefeated newcomer from Germany who also seems promising. This matchup is a fun one, and it could determine a future contender at 145 pounds.

Another fight to monitor is the middleweight bout between Tom Breese and newcomer KB Bhullar. Breese was once considered a top prospect in the sport, but inactivity and a pair of losses have hampered his potential over the past few years. The Brit will look to turn his career around and notch his first victory since 2018.

Bhullar is one of the hottest prospects from Canada and recently signed with the UFC after originally being scheduled to fight on "Dana White's Contender Series" later this year.

The 28-year-old has an 8-0 record and already owns a victory over a UFC veteran in Matt Dwyer, so he seems to have all the makings of a future standout competitor in the Octagon. We'll see if he can put it all together in his promotional debut.