Nathan Fletcher is the UFC Vegas 97 fighter to watch

The UFC returns after a one-week hiatus to the UFC APEX on Sept. 7th for UFC Vegas 97. The event will be headlined by a welterweight clash between top contenders Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady. The card features many good matchups including the return of strawweight Veteran Jéssica Andrade. But there's a specific fighter we think MMA fans should pay close attention to.

The fighter to watch for this card is UFC newcomer 26-year-old Nathan Fletcher. Fletcher is making his debut at 145 pounds against fellow debutant Zygimantas Ramaska. The pair were scheduled to face off at UFC Vegas 96 on Aug. 24, however, Fletcher unfortunately had to withdraw from the fight on fight day due to a medical issue. The actual extent of the medical issue that Fletcher faced has not been revealed. The fight was quickly re-booked and it is now UFC Vegas 97 fight week and the two are ready to meet in the Octagon.

Fletcher being scheduled to fight for the UFC has come as a surprise to a lot of fans as he notably lost his fight on The Ultimate Fighter, however, the UFC must have seen real potential in Fletcher to give him this chance at UFC Vegas 97. This should hopefully result in Fletcher pushing the pace and trying to secure the finish so that he can prove it was the right decision to give him a shot at the UFC.

Fletcher is fighting out of Next Generation MMA in Liverpool which is famously home of fan favorites Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann. Fletcher had fought the entirety of his pro-MMA career for European-based promotion Cage Warriors, where he boasts an impressive record of 8-1 inside the promotion. His only career loss was to fellow UK bantamweight Dominique Wooding back in 2021. Fletcher has a fan-friendly and high-action style. With only one of his fights ever going the distance, he also has a mixture of knockouts and submissions on his record. Six of his eight career wins have come via submission so it is safe to say that he has a very solid ground game.

Nathan Fletcher was plauged bu injuries on The Ultimate Fighter Season 32

After an impressive career, Fletcher got the opportunity to fight on The Ultimate Fighter 32. This season of The Ultimate Fighter was coached by flyweights Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso. As previously mentioned Fletcher would notably lose his quarter-final fight to Kaan Ofli via unanimous decision.

Things would go from bad to worse for Fletcher as not only did he lose the fight he also suffered an extremely unfortunate injury. Very early on in the first round, Fletcher broke the fibula in his leg. This injury meant that Fletcher did not get a proper opportunity to show off his skills however, it did showcase his toughness as he still took the fight to a decision with a broken leg. The leg break surprisingly did not take too long to recover from as he did not need surgery. Fletcher had about six weeks from when The Ultimate Fighter wrapped up filming to when his original fight with Ramaska was supposed to take place.

His opponent Ramaska also competed on the same season of The Ultimate Fighter where he beat Bekhzod Usmonov via majority decision. Although Ramaska won his quarter-final fight, he sustained some injuries in that fight and he was not medically cleared to compete in the semi-final. With the nature of how both fighters had exited The Ultimate Fighter, it makes a lot of sense as to why the UFC has brought them both back and paired them against each other.