Report – Diego Lopes books headliner fight against Yair Rodriguez at UFC Mexico City in March
Surging featherweight contender, Diego Lopes has booked his first main event clash in his Octagon tenure, taking on former title challenger, Yair Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night Mexico City on March 29.
Lopes, the current number three ranked featherweight contender, has been sidelined since September, turning in a unanimous decision win over former title chaser, Brian Ortega in a main card clash at Noche UFC at the Las Vegas Sphere.
As for Chihuahua native, Rodriguez, the former and undisputed and interim featherweight title challenger has himself been out of action since dropping his own submission loss to Ortega in the pair’s rematch, and retains the number five rank at 145lbs.
News of Diego Lopes’ return against Yair Rodriguez in the main event of UFC Fight Night Mexico City was first reported by Jake Noecker.
Diego Lopes books UFC Mexico City headliner with Yair Rodriguez
Per sources, Diego Lopes vs Yair Rodriguez is in the works for UFC Mexico on March 29th, targeted to be the main event,” Noecker posted on X.
In the midst of an impressive five-fight winning spree since a short-notice Octagon debut loss against the unbeaten, Movsar Evloev, Lopes turned in the most high-profile win of his short tenure in the promotion with his September decision win over perennial contender, Ortega.
Prior to that victory, Lopes would beat Dan Ige over the course of three rounds, following a trio of stoppage wins over Sodiq Yusuff, Pat Sabatini, and Gavin Tucker — stopping the three in the very first round to boot.
19-5(1) as a professional, Rodriguez suffered his second consecutive defeat in his submission loss to Ortega, following a prior knockout loss to former champion, Alexander Volkanovski in his championship charge.
Winning interim spoils against knockout artist, Josh Emmett in a trip to Australia back in 2023, Rodriguez also holds other notable victories over the likes or Ortega, Jeremy Stephens, Chan Sung Jung, Dan Hooker, Charles Rosa, and B.J. Penn.
