It’s safe to say Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is high on “Gunslinger.”
Top UFC Featherweight prospect Lerryan Douglas returns against veteran Jamall Emmers on the UFC Sacramento preliminary card this weekend (Sat., Aug. 22, 2026) inside Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
Douglas turned heads in his Octagon debut when he violently demolished Julian Erosa in less than four minutes at UFC Seattle (watch highlights). Before that, the Brazilian earned his UFC contract by smokingCam Teague in just 36 seconds on Contender Series.
The 31-year-old wanted to return just three weeks after disposing of Erosa, but UFC struggled to secure another opponent for him. Ultimately, Douglas was forced to wait nearly five months before Emmers agreed to face him.
More surprisingly, the promotion apparently attempted to fast-track Douglas into the rankings by offering him two ranked Featherweights.
“I was trying to fight basically three weeks after my last fight,” Douglas told Full Send MMA this week. “I wanted to stay busy — and they were trying. They tried three opponents, but we finally got this one done. One guy was ranked, and the other one just got ranked, so there’s a tip for you. I can’t say.”
Attempting to identify the mystery opponents is difficult because UFC currently publishes its traditional media rankings alongside the new Meta UFC Rankings.
UFC veteran grappler Pat Sabatini recently entered the Meta rankings, making him one possible candidate. Sabatini is also from Philadelphia, meaning the promotion may have explored matching him against Douglas at UFC 330 last weekend.
Other recently ranked names include Nathaniel Wood, Aaron Pico and Joanderson Brito — all of whom would have made for fascinating matchups against the hard-hitting Brazilian.
Nevertheless, the mystery no longer matters because Douglas has a very experienced and dangerous Emmers standing across from him this weekend.
Douglas (14-5) is riding a six-fight winning streak, with all six victories coming via knockout. Meanwhile, the 37-year-old Emmers (22-8) has won two straight and owns a 5-4 UFC record.
If UFC was already exploring ranked opposition after only one Octagon appearance, another violent finish this weekend could leave matchmakers with no reason to slow down the “Gunslinger.”
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