One to Watch: Stevie Ray vs. Paul Felder

It may be unlikely given what we saw in Toronto last night, but you may get a little burned out by all the hysteria surrounding Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor by the time they wrap up their four-date world tour of press conferences on Friday in London. Thankfully, there is a timely distraction on those same British shores as the UFC returns to Scotland on Sunday in The SSE Hydro in Glasgow.

UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio, otherwise known as UFC Fight Night 113, is headlined by Gunnar Nelson—a long-time training partner and confidant of the aforementioned McGregor—who is taking on gritty Argentine Santiago Ponzinibbio, and as with any regional UFC card taking place in the UK, the fight card is packed with local talent.

Wales is represented by Brett Johns and Jack Marshman, England can boast Danny Roberts and James Mulheron, while Charlie Ward and Neil Seery—the latter making his final appearance in an MMA bout—represent those from across the Irish Sea. In Scotland's case, Joanne Calderwood is fighting Team Alpha Male product Cynthia Calvillo, Paul Craig takes on former TUF contestant Khalil Rountree, and promotional debutant Danny Henry will make his Octagon bow against Daniel Teymur, older brother of David.

With local interests in play at UFC Fight Night 113, the contest between Scotland's Stevie Ray and Irish-American Paul Felder is likely going to be the one to court the most intrigue on Sunday.

Ray has been an exciting addition to the already-stacked UFC lightweight division since joining the promotion in 2015. The former CageWarriors champion triumphed in his UFC debut against Marcin Bandel in Krakow, Poland, before cementing his position as Scotland's most promising MMA fighter three months later with a first-round knockout win over Leonardo Mafra inside the same arena he'll be fighting in come Sunday night.

A unanimous decision win against Mickael Lebout quickly followed to round off 2015 with three wins inside the Octagon for the man affectionately known as Stevie "fuckin'" Ray. In his next outing, Ray came up short against veteran Brazilian Alan Patrick in a decision loss, but the 27-year-old from Fife bounced back with two impressive unanimous decision wins against tough opposition in Ross Pearson and Joe Lauzon. Despite those last two wins against well-known names, Ray remains on the periphery outside the top 15 in the UFC lightweight rankings, a fact which is more emblematic of what is a ludicrously talent-rich division, rather than a sign of Ray's shortcomings.

But six fights into his UFC tenure and on the last fight of his UFC contract, Ray is eager to win on Saturday and be in a good position to negotiate a new contract before finally breaking into the upper echelons of his division. "I'm focusing on Felder but after this, with a new contract, I'm looking at the top 15 guys," Ray told the Scottish Sun. "I'm watching all the guys like Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller and Justin Gaethje. I believe that is the level that I am at and I want to get in there with those guys. If all goes well on Sunday, then that's what I'm aiming for."

Felder isn't the man for Ray to beat to rank in the UFC lightweight division, but he is the man to play a key role as a lightweight gatekeeper and provide one of the sternest challenges possible outside of the top 15.

The Philadelphia fighter announced his presence as one of the UFC's most ferocious strikers with his spinning backfist KO win over veteran Danny Castillo at UFC 182, also winning a Performance of the Night bonus in the process, at the beginning of 2015. That victory earned him fights against fellow stand-up fighters in Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson, but, ultimately, he came up short in consecutive decision losses. Still, Felder won a Fight of the Night bonus against Barboza despite being a late replacement for the injured Myles Jury.

Felder bounced back from a duo of uninterrupted losses with two successive victories—sending Daron Cruickshank off packing to Rizin Fighting Federation in Japan with a third-round submission victory, before defeating former WSOF welterweight champion Josh Burkman by unanimous decision. After, Felder fell to the then-seemingly unstoppable win streak of Francisco Trinaldo, before returning to form with a TKO win over Alessandro Ricci earlier in the year.

Given Ray's crisp boxing and Felder's penchant for throwing hard power shots from his Muay Thai repertoire, it's hard to fathom how this fight winds up a dud.