UFC President Dana White announced a ton of major fights this evening including a huge co-main event for the promotion’s upcoming trip to Mexico City. White announced that former interim champion Yair Rodriguez (18-4) would be taking on “T-City” Brian Ortega (15-3).
The fight will be a five-round co-main event at UFC Mexico on February 24th. This fight is a rematch from July 2022 when these two first squared off in a headliner. The first fight was looking like an instant classic but unfortunately Ortega suffered a shoulder injury near the end of the first round and that’s where the fight stopped.
We haven’t seen T-City since that injury loss to Rodriguez. Prior to that loss, Ortega had his title fight against Alexander Volkanovski which didn’t go his way. Finally back healthy and ready to go, Ortega is looking to show the world that he’s still one of the best at UFC Mexico.
UFC Mexico
Yair Rodriguez will be making the walk in his home country and it’ll be the first time he’s made the walk since his title fight against Alexander Volkanovski. The two fought for the undisputed featherweight title back in July and Volk scored a third round TKO to unify the belts.
That loss snapped a two-fight winning streak for Rodriguez. Prior to the loss to Volk, Rodriguez had brutalized and stopped Josh Emmett in the second round of their interim title fight. Both of these men have a ton to prove as we head towards UFC Mexico.
They are both are coming off losses and they desperately need a big win. Whoever wins this fight is going to be right in the mix for a title shot sometime in 2024.