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ORLANDO, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 03: Darren Elkins is seen during his featherweight fight against Jonathan Pearce during the UFC Fight Night event at Amway Center on December 03, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
There will be blood … seriously.
Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight veteran Darren Elkins is officially back, as “The Damage” returns to action against Cuban prospect Yadier del Valle at UFC Vegas 120 next month.
The event goes down Sat., Aug. 8, 2026, inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The promotion announced the matchup today in a press release.
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Elkins (29-12) will enter the Octagon after a 16-month layoff. In his most recent outing at UFC 314, the 41-year-old veteran was destroyed by Julian Erosa (watch highlights), which snapped a two-fight win streak.
Before that loss, Elkins had picked up back-to-back wins over Daniel Pineda and TJ Brown, proving once again that counting him out is usually a bad idea.
And, well, UFC is doing the classic Elkins thing again.
Throw him at a hot prospect and see what happens.
Of course, Elkins has been here before. Several times, actually. “The Damage” has spent much of his UFC career as the blood-and-guts veteran test for younger, flashier fighters, and he has ruined more than a few plans along the way, including some iconic ones (like this).
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Del Valle (10-1), meanwhile, is looking to rebound from the first loss of his professional career after getting dominated by Jordan Leavitt in his last outing.
Prior to that defeat, “The Problem” looked like one of the more interesting Featherweight prospects in the division, scoring consecutive first-round submission wins over Connor Matthews and Isaac Dulgarian (watch highlights).
However, his win over Dulgarian later became part of an FBI investigation over betting concerns, adding a weird cloud to what was otherwise a very impressive performance.
While Del Valle’s hype cooled a little after the Leavitt loss, the Cuban prospect is still well-rounded, dangerous and very talented.
Here is what UFC Vegas 120 currently looks like:
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Quillan Salkilld
Diego Ferreira vs. Billy Quarantillo
Amanda Lemos vs. Alexia Thainara
Darren Elkins vs. Yadier del Valle
Steven Asplund vs. Guilherme Pat
Juliana Miller vs. Ravena Oliveira
Jose Montanha vs. Louie Sutherland
Bruno Lopes vs. Diyar Nurgozhay
Billy Ray Goff vs. Ty Miller
To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.
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