Kevin Vallejos earned his biggest victory to date at UFC Vegas 114. | Getty/UFC
Kevin Vallejos announced himself as a person of interest in the featherweight division on Saturday night.
In his first headlining appearance, “El Chino” made short work of veteran Josh Emmett, dispatching his adversary with a barrage of strikes at the 3:33 mark of the opening stanza at UFC Vegas 114 on Saturday night. Vallejos has won seven straight professional outings — including four in the UFC.
While Vallejos declined to make a specific callout in the immediate aftermath of his biggest win to date, he acknowledged that matchups against the likes of Alexander Volkanovski, Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega or Jean Silva would be appealing during Saturday’s post-fight press conference.
“Any of those four names are good. Obviously Volk being the champion. I think a fight against Yair or Brian would be great. I think those would be good fights,” Vallejos said.
Vallejos already has history with Silva. The Argentinian dropped a unanimous decision to the Brazilian on Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2023. Vallejos would have to win three more fights — including a return date on the Contender Series — before he earned a UFC deal. The rising star says he is cheering Silva’s ascent in the featherweight division.
“Everybody knows about the history with Jean Silva,” Vallejos said. “It would be a great fight. I root for the guy. I want him to get the title so I can have a rematch against him for that belt. That’s what I would like. Of course, we’re here to fight. We’re going to be crossing paths sooner or later. But if the UFC wants me to face him before [then], that would be great.”
Vallejos admitted that he still has more work to do, which is part of why he didn’t focus on making a callout.
“I wouldn’t say a name because I really want to improve, I want to get better,” he said. “There are things that I want to work in camp. Little by little I think I can give more than I even gave tonight. I think I have much more to give and I want to make sure that I’m prepared for that, so I will take on any challenges I’m given.”
Building for the Future
Vallejos latest effort also earned him a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus. In a separate interview with the UFC, he revealed his plans for that money.
“…I want to invest the money,” he said. “I want that money to grow, but there’s one thing I want to do is build a gym in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
“I want to do something, I want to get something that was never done before, to actually have a full camp out there. I want to give it a little grain of sand to this project, to having new techniques, having new equipment, having new skills developed out there and a little gift to Argentina so we can grow MMA down there.”
