UFC Mexico City start time, full fight card details | Moreno vs. Royval 2

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has touched down South of the Border to stage UFC Mexico City later today (Feb. 24, 2024) inside Arena CDMX, Mexico City, Mexico. Headlining the event will be a Flyweight rematch between Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval. In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega will also run it back in a pivotal fight at Featherweight.

What’s Hot:

Brandon Moreno is considered the best Mexican-born fighter to ever step foot inside the Octagon, and there really is no denying him that honor. He is, after all, the first fighter from Mexico to win a UFC world title, which he won at UFC 263 by defeating Deiveson Figueiredo. After losing it to “Daico,” he went on to defeat Kai Kara-France to win the interim strap, and then unified the belts by defeating Figueiredo a second time six months later. Aside from that, Moreno is as entertaining as they come. He brings the action, is never in a boring fight and is just flat-out an all-around good guy that has made him wildly-popular with fans. But after losing his belt to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290 via razor-thin split-decision, “Assassin Baby” is out to start a run back to the title.

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Moreno’s first step in that is yet another rematch. Moreno defeated Royval via buzzer-beating TKO at UFC 255 almost four years ago, so he will have confidence coming into the do-over. But Royval will come in with revenge on his mind, and that makes him dangerous. Furthermore, “Raw Dawg” is coming off a failed attempt to dethrone Pantoja, so he has all of the motivation in the world in this fight. If he can get through Moreno, it keeps him afloat in the championship run. The same can be said for “Assassin Baby.” so there is a lot at stake in this bout.

What’s Not:

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The only matchup I have a problem with on this card is the Featherweight bout between Erik Silva and Muhammad Naimov. Silva came up short in his UFC debut against T.J Brown 14 months ago, while Naimov is on a five-fight win streak, earning two of those victories inside the Octagon. I can never wrap my head around why matchmakers book a scorching hot combatant against someone coming off a loss.

Original Card vs. Actual Card:

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Amir Albazi was originally set to face Moreno in the main event but eventually bowed out of the contest with a neck injury, paving the way for Royval to step in to get a chance for revenge.

Injuries:

Other than Albazi’s injury, there were no other reported health setbacks for this event.

New Blood:

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After suffering a loss on the Contender Series in 2020, Ronaldo Rodriguez finally made his way to the Octagon after racking up five straight wins on the Mexican regional circuit. “Lazy Boy” draws Denys Bondar for his first fight inside the Octagon in his home country. Bondar has come up short in his first two fights inside the eight-sided cage, so he is in desperate need of a win. If he can get it against a tough out such as Rodriguez, it gives him a new lease on his combat life.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look:

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Jesus Santos Aguilar picked up his first win under the UFC banner by knocking out Shannon Ross in just 17 seconds at UFC 290 (see it again here). The 27-year old Mexican-born fighter takes on Mateus Mendonca, who came up short in his first two fights inside the Octagon. It’s a far cry from the great 10-0 start he had to start his MMA career. Hitting home-runs in the minors may be nice, but if you can’t deliver in the majors it’s all for naught.

Edgar Chairez and Daniel da Silva will get to run it back after their first fight ended in rather odd fashion. Chairez thought he had earned a submission win after catching da Silva in a tight guillotine. The referee eventually went in and put a stop to the fight, but da Silva never went out or tapped. After video review, the athletic commission overruled the call and the fight was ruled a No Contest (NC). Now, they will hope to have a more definitive ending — or judges decision — in the do-over.

Claudio Puelles was on one of the best runs of his career, having won five straight fights under the UFC banner before running into Dan Hooker at UFC 281, eventually losing to “Hangman” via TKO. It’s back to the drawing board for “Prince of Peru,” who faces Fares Ziam, winner of two straight and the owner of a 4-2 mark inside the Octagon.

Both Victor Altamirano and Felipe dos Santos are coming off tough losses to Tim Elliott and Manel Kape, respectively. Neither man can afford to lose two in a row because they will fall a couple more steps on the 125-pound ladder. This is a pivotal fight for both men, so expect them to come out aggressive early on.

Who Needs A Win Badly:

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After starting off his UFC career with five straight wins, Raoni Barcelos’ career has really taken a turn for the worse. The Brazilian Bantamweight has now lost four of his last five fights and is coming in on a two-fight losing streak. If he drops his third straight at the hands of Cristian Quinonez — who will come in hungry for a win of his own after his five-fight win streak was snapped by Kyung Ho Kang — he will be on the chopping block.

LIVE! Stream UFC Mexico City On ESPN+

PIVOTAL FLYWEIGHT FRACAS! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico, on Feb. 24, 2024, with a pivotal Flyweight fracas between former 125-pound kingpin, Brandon Moreno, and most recent title challenger, Brandon Royval, who replaces the red-hot (and injured) Iraqi “Prince,” Amir Albazi. In UFC Mexico City’s ESPN+-streamed co-main event, top-ranked Featherweight contenders, Yair Rodriguez (No. 3) and Brian Ortega (No. 4), will run it back after their initial encounter ended prematurely via gross injury.

Don’t miss a single second of face-punching action!

Interest Level: 6.5/10:

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The co-main event will feature a highly-anticipated rematch between Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega. The two talented Featherweights initially threw down in July 2022, but the fight ended in the very first round after Ortega suffered a shoulder injury, giving Rodriguez a TKO win. “El Pantera” went on to fight Alexander Volkanovski for the title, but ultimately came up short. As for “T-City,” he hasn’t competed since, so booking the fight now makes all the sense in the world. The winner of this rematch firmly cements himself in thick of the championship picture. This has been a do-over a lot of people have wanted to see because the ingredients make for a potential “Fight of the Year” candidate given their track record. Now that Ilia Topuria is sitting on top of the 145-pound mountain, everyone is gunning for him, and it seems that both Rodriguez and Ortega have beef with the new champ (see why here and here).

After stumbling out of the gates with a loss in his UFC debut, Daniel Zellhuber has gone on to win two straight fights. He will look to build on that momentum when he battles Francisco Prado in a Lightweight bout. Prado also came up short in his own UFC debut, losing to Jamie Mullarkey via unanimous decision at UFC 284. He bounced back nicely with a win over Ottman Azaitar.

Yazmin Jauregui suffered the first loss of her career in her last outing after she was knocked out by Denise Gomes in just 20 seconds (relive it here), Fluke or not, a loss is a loss and now Jauregui will have to start from scratch after kicking off her combat career 10-0. She can take a positive step forward if she can take out Sam Hughes, who has gone a respectable 3-1 in her last four fights after starting her UFC career with three straight losses.

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After suffering the first loss of his young MMA career at the hands of Christian Rodriguez, Raul Rosas Jr. got back on track with a technical knockout (TKO) win over Terrence Mitchell, stopping him in just 54 seconds (see it here). Now, the 19-year old rising contender will go for his first back-to-back win streak inside the Octagon when he battles Ricky Turcios, who is also 2-1 in his young UFC career. Turcios is coming off a split-decision win over Kevin Natividad, but he is looking to build up his own name by taking out Rosas Jr. Indeed, if he can hand the young fighter another loss, he can start stealing some of the shine that comes with him, as well. For Rosas Jr. a win is important here if he wants to warrant the hype he’s been getting early on in his career.

A fight that has the potential to steal the show is the main card opener between Manuel Torres and Chris Duncan. The scrappy 155-pounders are coming in scorching hot, with Torrres winning his last five via stoppage — two under the UFC banner — and Duncan riding in with four straight wins. Both men have seven knockout (KO) wins on their resume, so they are all about the non-stop action. Don’t be surprised to see this bout win a post-fight bonus award.

Enjoy the fights!

Full UFC Mexico City Fight Card:

UFC Mexico City Main Event On ESPN+:

125 lbs.: Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval 2

UFC Mexico City Main Card on ESPN+ (10 p.m. ET):

145 lbs.: Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega
155 lbs.: Daniel Zellhuber vs. Francisco Prado
135 lbs.: Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
115 lbs.: Yazmin Jauregui vs. Sam Hughes
155 lbs.: Manuel Torres vs. Chris Duncan

UFC Mexico City ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):

135 lbs.: Cristian Quinonez vs. Raoni Barcelos
125 lbs.: Jesus Aguilar vs. Mateus Mendonca
125 lbs.: Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda
155 lbs.: Claudio Puelles vs. Fares Ziam
125 lbs.: Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Denys Bondar
125 lbs.: Victor Altamirano vs. Felipe dos Santos
145 lbs.: Muhammad Naimov vs. Erik Silva

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+ preliminary card bouts at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Mexico City news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive here. For the updated and finalized “Moreno vs. Royval 2” fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.