Pivotal UFC Contender Fight Booked for First UFC Ottawa Card in Nearly 7 Years

The UFC will reportedly make its return to Canada with a UFC Fight Night event in the nation’s capital on April 18.

The world’s leading MMA promotion held its first UFC Fight Night card of 2026 last Saturday in Las Vegas, where Mario Bautista handed fellow top-ranked bantamweight contender Vinicius Oliveira his first UFC loss when he submitted the Brazilian in the second round.

The UFC heads to Houston next week for an event headlined by Sean Strickland and Anthony Hernandez, and Adam Martin was the first to report that a UFC Fight Night card scheduled for April 18 will see the promotion return to Ottawa for the first time since 2019.

Jasmine Jasudavicius Gets Another UFC Fight On Canadian Soil

Following Martin’s initial report of UFC Ottawa, Ag Fight broke the news that the card will feature a matchup between top-ranked women’s flyweight fighters Jasmine Jasudavicius and Karine Silva.

Currently sitting at #6 in the women’s flyweight rankings, Jasudavicius joined the UFC off of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 and initially went 3-2 across her first five UFC fights. Following a unanimous decision loss to Tracy Cortez, the Canadian put together a five-fight win streak that was capped off by a first-round submission against former strawweight titleholder Jessica Andrade at UFC 315.

Jasmine Jasudavicius (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Jessica Andrade (not pictured) during UFC 315 at Bell Centre. | Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

On the cusp of a potential title shot thanks to her lengthy winning run, Jasudavicius took on former title challenger Manon Fiorot at UFC Vancouver in October and was stopped with strikes just over a minute into the fight.

Karine Silva Can Climb Rankings At UFC Ottawa

Jasudavicius will try to get back on track in her home country when she takes on #9-ranked Silva, who also secured a place on the UFC roster on the 2021 edition of Dana White’s Contender Series with a second-round submission against Qihui Yan.

The win over Yan put Silva on a five-fight win streak overall, and her UFC career got off to a strong start when the Brazilian secured three-straight finishes and four victories across as many Octagon outings. That unbeaten run was halted by Viviane Aurajo, and last year “Killer” rebounded by defeating Dione Barbosa in a rematch of their 2019 meeting before she most recently dropped a decision to Maycee Barber at UFC 323.

Maycee Barber (red gloves) fights Karine Silva (blue gloves) during UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The only other fight currently set for the April 18 card is a bantamweight bout featuring John Castañeda and Mark Vologdin, but fans can expect that the UFC will try to stack the rest of the event with Canadian talent now that it’s been confirmed that it will take place in Ottawa.

UFC Ottawa Fight Card

• Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Karine Silva

• John Castañeda vs. Mark Vologdin

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