Kaue Fernandes says roughly three ranked lightweights turned down a fight with him before Jalin Turner signed on to face him at UFC 330 in Philadelphia.
Fernandes told MMA Fighting that the UFC had been trying to book him against top-10 opposition even before his last win, and that the matchmaking kept stalling on the other side of the negotiation. He declined to name anyone who passed.
“It wasn’t just one guy, it was about three,” Fernandes said of the ranked lightweights who turned the bout down.
He was careful not to frame it as anyone ducking him. Fernandes said he doesn’t believe fear was the reason, pointing out that the fighters involved regularly take hard matchups. He added that he has never wanted to be the fighter who talks, and that he intends to keep that approach for the rest of his career.
Fernandes (11-2, 3-1 UFC) has not competed since September 2025, when he chopped down Harry Hardwick with calf kicks in Paris and collected a $50,000 performance bonus. Hardwick had stepped in on late notice after Fares Ziam withdrew following a death in his family.
Turner Brings The Test Fernandes Wanted
Turner (15-9, 8-6 UFC) got the assignment instead, and he arrives on a different kind of run. The 6-foot-3 lightweight knocked out Edson Barboza in the first round at UFC 323 last December, a win that ended a brief retirement and snapped consecutive stoppage losses to Renato Moicano and Ignacio Bahamondes.
Fernandes said he already belongs at Turner’s level and simply needs the performance to prove it. He called facing a fighter of Turner’s standing an honor, then said beating him would be the bigger one.
The Brazilian is riding a three-fight winning streak that includes wins over Mohammad Yahya, Guram Kutateladze and Hardwick. His only setback in the promotion came in his debut, a split decision loss to Marc Diakiese in November 2023.
This is his first appearance on a numbered card. The lightweight bout sits on the UFC 330 main card, which starts at 9 p.m. ET on Paramount+, on a night that also features the Islam Makhachev and Ian Machado Garry welterweight title fight. The card absorbed a late change earlier in fight week.
