UFC Mexico City: 15 Fun Tidbits, Facts And Storylines

After an incredible pay-per-view (PPV) event in Anaheim, Calif. — where Ilia Topuria finished Alexander Volkanovski to claim the Featherweight championship (watch highlights) — Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stays on the road and travels to Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico.

In UFC Mexico City’s ESPN+-streamed main event, No. 1-ranked Flyweight contender, Brandon Moreno, takes on No. 3-seeded Brandon Royval. Before that 125-pound clash of styles gets underway, Yair Rodriguez (No. 3) will run it back with Brian Ortega (No. 4) after their initial encounter ended via awful injury back in July 2022 (watch it).

UFC Mexico City has several fun matches, and the atmosphere should be incredible, so before it all goes down tomorrow evening (Sat., Feb. 24, 2023), let’s check out some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of showtime …

‘The City Of Palaces’

UFC returns to Mexico City, Mexico, for the first time since Sept. 2019. In the main event, the aforementioned Rodriguez accidentally poked Jeremy Stephens in the eye, which caused a very unpopular “No Contest.” The result ended in absolute chaos as the crowd erupted in anger and they started throwing bottles of beer into the Octagon (relive it here).

Prior to 2019, UFC visited Mexico City in Aug. 2017, where Moreno took on Sergio Pettis in the main event.

Running It Back

The next three entries will feature the main- and co-main events because both fights are eerily similar … keep reading.

Moreno and Royval is a rematch from Nov. 2020 in which Moreno defeated Royval via first round technical knockout (watch highlights). The bout was utter madness for as long as it lasted and the rematch should replicate the chaos. For what it’s worth, Moreno earned a Flyweight title shot because of the win.

Rodriguez vs. Ortega are also running it back. Rodriguez submitted Ortega at UFC Long Island in July 2022 and then faced Josh Emmett for the interim Featherweight championship seven months later.

Injury Bug

Both of the fights in the previous entry ended with injuries:

• Moreno vs. Royval 1 ended via technical knockout; however, Royval dislocated his shoulder seconds before the finish.
• Rodriguez vs. Ortega 1 ended with a submission; however, seconds before the finish, Ortega destroyed his shoulder.

Hopefully, the rematches will be injury-free.

Big Stakes

There are potential title opportunities on the line this weekend.

In the main event, if Moreno defeats Royval, there is a very good chance he will rematch division roost-ruler, Alexandre Pantoja, for the 96th time (sarcasm), especially because there aren’t any clear-cut contenders at the moment. Royval is coming off a title loss against Pantoja that wasn’t very competitive, so he would most likely gets passed up if he were to defeat Moreno.

In the co-main event, there is a case for either fighter to get a Featherweight title shot with a win, especially because there is a new champion. For Rodriguez, he could fight Topuria next because there is some serious heat between the Latin fighters. Ortega is coming off back-to-back losses, which makes it hard for him to get a title shot, but he is a fan favorite and the promotion loves “T-City.”

Vets

Rodriguez and Ortega are celebrating their 10th anniversaries of being tenured UFC athletes this year. Both of them made their debuts in 2014:

Small People Only

Heavyweight fighters competing at elevation is often a bad idea; therefore, UFC has filled UFC Mexico City with lighter athletes (highest weight class competing this weekend is Lightweight).

Viva Mexico!!!

Thirteen Mexican fighters are competing this weekend at UFC Mexico City and 11 of them were born in Mexico, making the event even more special.

Chute Boxe Goes To War

Chute Boxe — the legendary Brazilian gym (also Charles Oliveria’s gym) — has three fighters competing this weekend (all are fighting Mexicans):

• Mateus Mendonca (Brazil) vs. Jesus Aguilar (Mexico)
• Daniel Lacerda (Brazil) vs. Edgar Chairez (Mexico)
• Felipe dos Santos (Brazil) vs. Victor Altamirano (Mexico)

Ah, the classic Brazil vs. Mexico matchup … should be fun.

Knock On Wood

After a cancelation — and a wacky “No Contest” at Noche UFC — Lacerda vs. Chairez run it back for the final time (hopefully).

Lacerda is trying to avoid the dreaded 0-5-1 record in UFC, while Chairez is looking to score his first UFC win.

Welcome To UFC!

Only one fighter is making their UFC debut at UFC Mexico City.

Luis Ronaldo “Lazy Boy” Rodriguez (15-2) takes on Denys Bondar. Rodriguez is riding a five-fight win streak and holds a 74 percent finish rate with seven knockouts.

‘Lipe Detona’ Follow Up

Felipe dos Santos (7-1) makes his highly anticipated follow-up to his incredible UFC debut in which he went to war with Manel Kape and gave “Starboy” all that he could handle, ultimately losing a unanimous decision.

The Chute Boxe-trained, 23-year-old fighter is all-action and made a name for himself even in a loss, which is rare in MMA. He holds a 71% finish rate with three submissions and two knockouts.

Welcome Back, ‘Prince of Peru’

Claudio Puelles returns from a 15-month layoff this weekend, facing French fighter Fares Ziam — they trained at the same gym (Kill Cliff FC) at one point, too.

During the 15 months away from the cage, Puelles was dealing with an unspecified injury, but he is healthy now. “El Nino” is coming off a technical knockout loss to Dan Hooker at UFC 281 (watch it).

Winners And Losers

Eleven fighters are coming off wins, while 13 are coming off losses. Two are coming off a “No Contest.”

Multi-Divisions

Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:

• Three Lightweight fights
• Two Featherweight fight
• Two Bantamweight fights
• Five Flyweight fights
• One women’s Strawweight fight

Beta Dog

According to DraftKings, UFC Mexico City’s “biggest” underdog is Erik Siva at +425.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Mexico City fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Mexico City: “Moreno vs. Royval 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.