The UFC has added a fight between two ranked bantamweights for the UFC Qatar event on November 21. Jacqueline Cavalcanti defends her spot in the top 10 against Michelle Montague. The fight takes place in the ABHA Arena in Al Rayyan.
Multiple sources have confirmed the matchup to Heavy.com after an initial report from AG Fight. Cavalcanti is ranked No. 8 in the UFC Media rankings and No. 7 in the Meta rankings. Meanwhile, her opponent, Montague, holds the No. 12 spot in Media and sits at No. 8 in Meta.
Defending Her Spot
Born in Brazil but fighting out of Portugal, Jacqueline Cavalcanti signed with the UFC in 2023 after winning the LFA title. Cavalcanti started her professional MMA career in 2018 in Portugal. After going 4-1 in her first five fights, she signed with the LFA promotion and got an immediate title shot against Melissa Croden. She won via unanimous decision after five rounds. Cavalcanti debuted four months later on short notice in the UFC against Zarah Fairn. Cavalcanti won her debut via unanimous decision.
In her sophomore year in the UFC, she beat both Josiane Nunes and Nora Cornolle, which got her in the top 15 of the bantamweight division. After securing dominant wins over Julia Avila and former title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva, Cavalcanti seemed in for a fast track to the top of the division. Unfortunately, a recent unanimous decision loss to Ketlen Vieira stalled that momentum. Now, she looks to bounce back and get back on the winning track when she faces Michelle Montague in Qatar.
Undefeated
The 32-year-old Montague is three years older than Cavalcanti but only signed with the UFC last year. She became the first female fighter from New Zealand to sign with the promotion. Montague, who trains and lives in Florida fought as an amateur for seven years before she made the switch to professional fighting in 2022. Montague signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and fought the majority of her fights there. Within two and a half years, Montague fought a record of six wins and zero losses. All those six wins came by rear-naked choke finish.
In 2025, she signed with the UFC and made her debut in Perth against Luana Carolina, going the full three rounds for the first time in her professional career to secure a unanimous decision victory. In her sophomore Octagon appearance earlier this year, the undefeated New Zealander reigned victorious yet again, outpointing former title challenger Mayra Bueno Silva. Now, she has her sights set on Cavalcanti, knowing a victory will likely propel her into the division’s top 10.
UFC Qatar – Al Rayyan (November 21)
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Navajo Stirling
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Kevin Vallejos
- Dan Hooker vs. Brian Ortega
- Asu Almabayev vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Jared Cannonier vs. Ikram Aliskerov
- Aleksandre Topuria vs. Santiago Luna
- Shamil Gaziev vs. Tallison Teixeira
- Amir Albazi vs. Alessandro Costa
- Tahir Abdullayev vs. Jake Matthews
- Nikolas Motta vs. Dom Mar Fan
- Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Michelle Montague
- Manoel Sousa vs. TBA
UFC Adds Women’s Fight to Qatar Event