Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval are set to headline Saturday night’s stacked UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Royval 2 at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City on Saturday February 24th.
The 13 bout fight card is filled with entertaining contests for the promotion’s return to Mexico.
The main event was originally scheduled to see Moreno face the thriving Amir Albazi but after the latter have to withdraw from the bout due to a neck injury, Royval stepped in to set up a rematch four years in the making.
Since the first time they faced each other, Moreno has had a taste of UFC gold having beat Deiveson Figueiredo first in 2021, before losing the belt to him in their trilogy match and then regaining it when the two met once more in 2033. But once again, Moreno was unsuccessful in making a title defence after losing the belt to Alexandre Pantoja in his very next bout.
After his loss to Moreno, Royval faced an unfortunate first of his career, suffering back to back losses when he dropped a second round submission loss to Pantoja. Following that Royval got himself back to winning ways and defeated Rogerio Bontorin, Matt Schnell and Matheus Nicolau, which ultimately set up a rematch with Pantoja for the Flyweight title. Unfortunately for Royval, he was handled with ease by Pantoja once again and lost all five rounds on two of the three judges' score cards.
The co-main event will also feature an extremely interesting rematch. The first time Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez met, the bout came to an abrupt end in the first round when Ortega suffered an unfortunate dislocated shoulder. The two will meet again in Ortega’s first bout back since the injury, in a contest which could see the winner look to make a case to face the new champion Ilia Topuria, next.
Daniel Zellhuber will have the chance to compete infront of a home crowd for the first time since he signed with the UFC in 2021 when he faces Francisco Prado in a Lightweight contest.
Raul Rosas Jr. was a star the second he fought on the Contender Series in 2022, at only 17 years old. Now holding a 2-1 promotional record, Rosas Jr. will be looking to continue to live up to the hype that has surrounded him since joining the promotion.
The rematches don't just stop on the main card with Edgar Chairez vs Daniel Lacerda set to meet once again, in the prelim section of the fight night. The first time the two met, it ended in controversial fashion as the referee stepped in and called a stop to the action while Chairez had a tight guillotine wrapped up. However, upon the referee's decision to stop the fight, it was apparent to everyone inside the arena that Lacerda was still conscious and there was no reason for the bout to come to an end.
Elsewhere on the card, Scotland’s own Chris Duncan also returns to the fold as he looks to build on his impressive unanimous decision win over Amasov. ‘The Problem’ will no doubt face as hostile atmosphere when he makes the walk against Mexico’s Manuel Torres. Both men always come out and entertain, with the latter riding a five-fight win streak and securing all five wins in the first round!
UFC Mexico City card:
Flyweight – Brandon Moreno Vs Brandon Royval
Featherweight – Yair Rodriguez Vs Brian Ortega
Lightweight – Daniel Zellhuber Vs Francisco Prado
Bantamweight – Raul Rosas Jr Vs Ricky Turcios
Women’s Strawweight – Yazmin Jauregui Vs Sam Hughes
Lightweight – Manuel Torres Vs Chris Duncan
Bantamweight – Cristian Quiñonez Vs Raoni Barcelos
Flyweight – Jesús Santos Aguilar Vs Mateus Mendonça
Flyweight – Edgar Chairez Vs Daniel Lacerda
Lightweight – Claudio Puelles Vs Farès Ziam
Flyweight – Luis Rodriguez Vs Denys Bondar
Flyweight – Victor Altamirano Vs Felipe dos Santos
Featherweight – Erik Silva Vs Muhammad Naimov
