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UFC Mexico City is almost here! Just a couple more days until the Battle of the Brandons as the promotion heads back to Mexico City for the first time since 2019 when Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens headlined UFC Fight Night 159. The bout would end in a no contest just 15 seconds in due to an accidental eye poke. They would run it back less than a month later, resulting in a dominant unanimous decision victory for Rodriguez.
This Saturday night, Yair will once again fight on a UFC Mexico City event, marking an incredible fourth time there under the UFC umbrella. He’ll face off against the ultra tough Brian Ortega in a rematch of their July 2022 fight. That night ended in another injury, a shoulder dislocation for Ortega, resulting in a TKO victory for Rodriguez. Saturday night will be Brian’s first fight back since then. Yair has fought twice in that time frame, taking home a win against Josh Emmet and most recently, a loss against former champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Our main event is also a rematch (hence our title), this time between Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval. The two exciting flyweights first met back in November of 2020 with Moreno taking the TKO win. Now, Royval has a chance to avenge his loss, but it bears noting that both men have resumes dotted with rematches. Moreno has a plethora of them: Deiveson Figueiredo, Alexandre Pantoja, Kai Kara France and now Brandon Royval who also has a couple rewinds on his resume, as well (Pantoja and now Moreno). Pantoja has even joked about why he’s going to be attending, saying “my kids are fighting again.”
The rest of the main card features some fun-looking contests, especially the one with Daniel Zellhuber taking on Francisco Prado. Zellhuber looks like he could be a big deal in the division, so we’re definitely keeping an eye on this one. Yazmin Juaregi will face the ever-evolving Sam Hughes in a battle of prospects. It’s a solid main card that’s certainly worth watching. Let’s take a look at the bout sheet.
UFC Mexico City Main Card
- Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval 125 lbs
- Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega 145 lbs
- Daniel Zellhuber vs. Francisco Prado 155 lbs
- Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios 135 lbs
- Yazmin Jauregui vs. Sam Hughes 115 lbs
- Manuel Torres vs. Chris Duncan 155 lbs
UFC Mexico City Fun Factoids
- Ranked fights: 2
- Ranked fighters: 4
- Fighters coming off a loss: 15
- Contender Series alumni: 12
- TUF alumni: 3
- Debuting fighters: 1
- Combate alumni: 6
Don’t forget to check out the bonus section for a great review of the UFC 298 main card. Make sure to tune in immediately after this weekend’s fights for breakdowns and analysis on our 6th Round Post-Fight Show.