Brian Ortega’s long-awaited return at UFC Mexico City turned out to be one to remember.
Fighting the first time since July 2022, the two-time title challenger scored a wild come-from-behind win over Yair Rodriguez, overcoming a rocky opening round to submit Rodriguez with a third-round arm-triangle choke in UFC Mexico City’s co-main event. For his handiwork, Ortega cashed an extra $ 50,000 in Performance of the Night bonus money, the eighth post-fight bonus of his UFC career.
Ortega’s win headlined a quartet of post-fight bonuses awarded at UFC Mexico City. Lightweight prospect Manuel Torres earned the card’s other Performance of the Night bonus for his first-round submission of Chris Duncan to open the main card, while lightweights Daniel Zellhuber and Francisco Prado earned Fight of the Night honors for their three-round war, which Zellhuber won by unanimous decision.
UFC Mexico City took place Feb. 24 at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City.
One-time UFC title challenger Brandon Royval defeated former two-time UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno via split decision in the night’s main event.
Looking to force their way into a title shot, two fan-favorite flyweights threw down in the main event of UFC Mexico. The beloved Brandon Moreno would come face-to-face with the flashy Brandon Royval.
The flyweights met over three years prior, where Royval would unfortunately suffer an injury bringing an end to the fight in the opening round. Now, with potential title opportunities on the line, they meet again in Mexico City.
As expected, Royval entered the cage to a barrage of jeers from those in attendance. It was the complete opposite for Brandon Moreno, who enjoyed the love being shown by his fellow Mexican people.
Looking for redemption 👀@BrandonRoyval | #UFCMexico pic.twitter.com/3LL630zcCH
— UFC (@ufc) February 25, 2024
Closing the show for Mexico 🇲🇽 #UFCMexico pic.twitter.com/RqC89qQn1R
— UFC (@ufc) February 25, 2024
Round 1
Although it took place entirely on the feet, both Moreno and Royval were tentative to engage. ‘Raw Dawg’ hurt his foot throwing a kick.
Neither flyweight took initiative and no huge blows were landed in the first round. A tough round to score, though the consensus believed Moreno edged ahead.
Round 2
‘The Assassin Baby’ started the round with a huge right hand, stumbling his opponent. Despite constantly being on the back foot, Moreno was the more accurate striker midway through the second round.
Brandon Royval was able to land some well-timed knees and kicks in the striking exchanges before some grappling ensued. Royval threatened multiple submissions off his back and almost locked in an omoplata as the round came to a close.
👀 #UFCMexico pic.twitter.com/WcUHiSzX3G
— Bakanky (@BakankyBro) February 25, 2024
Round 3
Similar to the previous two, both Moreno and Royval didn’t do anything to stamp their authority on the fight.
Although there was no clear winner of the round once again, Brandon Royval seemed to have warmed into the fight and was arguably doing some of his best work in this round.
Heading to the championship rounds 👀
Who's winning on your scorecards? #UFCMexico pic.twitter.com/cJ1g2sAQCn
— UFC (@ufc) February 25, 2024
Related: UFC Mexico: Moreno vs. Royval 2 Live Results
Round 4
Once again, it was tough to separate the 125ers, and nothing truly significant was landed by any man.
The stalemate round could have been stolen at the halfway point when Royval forced Moreno to shell up before landing a takedown against the cage.
Round 5
The belief among the viewers was that whoever would secure the fifth round would in turn get their hands raised at the end of the bout.
Herb Dean was forced to step in to separate the two due to no action as the two grappled on the cage wall. Once the fight resumed, the two got to work and both men landed some big shots in attempts to steal the round.
As the fight was coming to an end, both Moreno and Royval traded shots in the center of the octagon. Yet again, the scorecards could go either way for such a razor-close brawl.
What a SCRAP! 👏
📝 Five rounds in the books – how did you score our #UFCMexico main event? 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/eNMJhOYNkA
It was a double-stuffed weekend of MMA action as UFC Mexico City and PFL vs. Bellator took place this Saturday. At UFC, Brandon Royval got his revenge against Brandon Moreno, eking out a split decision win in the main event, while Brian Ortega added another impressive comeback win to his résumé, choking out Yair Rodriguez in the co-main event.
Over in PFL, Renan Ferreira made quick work of Ryan Bader to claim the heavyweight “Super Belt” in the main event, while Johnny Eblen survived a scare from Impa Kasanganay to win the middleweight “Super Belt” in the co-main event. Plus, the rest of the Bellator fighters cleaned up in PFL’s debut in Saudi Arabia.
Following Saturday’s events, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew, Jose Youngs, Alexander K. Lee, and E. Casey Leydon reacted to the big upsets in UFC and PFL’s big event. Additionally, they discussed what PFL could improve upon, whether Ortega and Royval earned title shots, and whether or not Francis Ngannou will actually compete in the SmartCage.
Watch the UFC Mexico City & PFL vs. Bellator post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.
Last night (Sat., Feb. 24, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico for UFC Mexico City. From top-to-bottom, Mexican talent was on display! Atop the card, Brandon Moreno aimed to get back into the Flyweight title mix by taking out Brandon Royval a second time, while Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega both aimed to score second title shots. While the altitude definitely took its toll on the athletes, the crowd remained lively until the final bell!
Let’s take a look back over at UFC Mexico City’s best performances and techniques:
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
An Understated Main Event
Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval 2 was … okay.
Royval did most of what he usually does. The Southpaw threw a ton of strikes, trying to sneak the biggest connections behind a whirlwind of half-power punches. His left kick and left knee were his best weapons of the fight, and compared to his last bout, his ability to scramble up after being taken down looked significantly improved. Sadly, his landing percentage here was abysmal — so, so many of his punches bounced pointlessly off Moreno’s high guard.
Unfortunately, this was the worst version of Moreno we’ve seen in recent memory. He wanted to be a counter fighter here, which has certainly worked for previous Royval opponents, but he sacrificed so much of his greatness in the process! Where was the jab? The combinations? The boxing in general? Moreno spent most of the fight loading up on huge left hook and overhand swings for no real reason. He would’ve landed far more often with straighter punches. The only technical angle I liked from Moreno was the addition of the lead leg low kick that followed his right hand late in the fight, but that should’ve been in the game plan three rounds earlier.
Despite my critique, I actually thought Moreno deserved the nod for landing the most damaging shots. Ultimately though, it was an impressive performance from neither man, and I hope altitude can explain away the off night.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The Return Of Third-Round Ortega
For a little while, Yoel Romero and Brian Ortega were the two most fearsome men in the world in the third round of UFC fights. Though both were scoring finishes in that final frame, the methodology was different. “The Soldier Of God” liked to take the first round off, slowly heating up before unleashing his athleticism on his fatigued opponent late.
Ortega has never had that luxury. He’s not gifted with super natural speed and explosiveness like the Cuban. He is, however, absurdly tough and well-conditioned, able to take any measure of beating and still remain uniquely opportunistic late in the fight.
Yair Rodriguez really came close to getting Ortega out of there in the first. Damn close, in fact. He stunned Ortega badly on the knockdown blow and followed it up with a bunch of concussive shots to the skull. When Ortega regained his feet, Rodriguez destroyed his liver with snapping kicks, threw him to the floor, and drilled his face with accurate ground strikes.
When the finish didn’t come, however, the outcome seemed guaranteed. Ortega continued to pour on the pressure, started finding his way into top position, and his success snowballed. He smashed Rodriguez with ground-and-pound in the second, and the submission came effortlessly in the third.
It’s good to have “T-City” back in action. Featherweight is more fun with him involved!
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
You Don’t Need Your Eye!
Francisco Prado’s coach dropped my favorite quote of the evening, advising his young athlete to wrestle and herd Daniel Zellhuber towards the fence despite his destroyed eye. It’s not quite “Hit him with your groin!” status, but it was amusing. Unfortunately for Prado, his face and the final punch count seem to indicate that vision is indeed helpful in combat sports.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
A Lightweight Freight Train
Manuel Torres’ 106-second rear naked choke win over Chris Duncan was a ridiculous showcase of dynamic athleticism. It also really explained all those first-round finishes on the Mexican prospect’s record!
Immediately, Torres fired a huge right hand … that was countered with a powerful swing from Duncan. When Duncan advanced, Torres stood his ground and kicked him in the head! The two began to wrestle, and I don’t want to imply that Torres’ takedowns were particularly technical … but they were effective!
“El Loco” was pretty much just securing a grip on his opponent, any grip, and then throwing him through the air. Torres was absolutely sprinting, which is a risky strategy at altitude, except it worked! He found his way to the back off a big slam, and Torres just forced the choke through Duncan’s defenses.
He’ll have to develop his skills a bit to compete with the best at 155 pounds, but still, it’s hard not to be impressed with Torres here.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
A Veteran Performance
Despite being unranked, Raoni Barcelos is a standout Bantamweight.
The 36-year-old Brazilian proved his talent right away upon joining the UFC roster, putting together a highly entertaining five-fight win streak. Unfortunately, the upper echelon of 135-pounds is a shark tank, and Barcelos hasn’t quite managed to ascend up the ladder. More to the point, Barcelos had lost four of his last five heading into this bout opposite Cristian Quinonez.
The stakes were high! A dislocated shoulder in the first round (quickly popped back in by his corner before the second) didn’t help his odds, nor did the simple fact that Quinonez was fighting well.
In fact, both men brought their A game into the cage. Barcelos was timing his takedowns well and utilizing tricky right hand set ups to score with power, but Quinonez threw a ton of volume and just kept advancing. In addition, “Problema” proved himself excellent at scrambling, returning to his feet almost instantly after many takedowns.
Barcelos’ ability to keep it technical in the third — when both were fatigued — ended up making the difference. Making the most of his experience edge, Barcelos’ counters started landing more often as his foe tried to force a brawl, and he used a trip takedown to slam Quinonez in awkward position. Once again, Quinonez tried to scramble up, but finally Barcelos was able to lock down position by jumping on the back immediately.
The choke came moments later, concluding a fun fight.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Additional Thoughts
Edgar Chairez defeats Daniel Lacerda via first-round triangle choke: Lacerda’s historic run comes to an end. The Brazilian entered tonight’s rematch with a 0-4 (1) UFC record, as well as a reputation for falling apart after the first round. Alas, Lacerda scored an early takedown and fell right into a triangle choke well before the opening five minutes came to a close! That’s almost surely the end of his UFC career, whereas Chairez officially picks up the first UFC win of his career.
Luis Rodríguez defeats Denys Bondar via second-round rear naked choke (HIGHLIGHTS): Bondar may have been the altitude’s first victim of the evening. He started strong, dinging Rodriguez with some heavy shots and winning the early wrestling exchanges. He even landed a huge spinning elbow! Midway through the second, however his gas tank began to run out, and Rodriguez reversed fortunes by taking the back mount and locking in a rear naked choke.
For complete UFC Mexico City: “Moreno vs. Royval 2” results and play-by-play, click HERE!
Photo by Louis Grasse/PXimages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Amir Albazi is not impressed.
The 30-year-old flyweight contender was originally expected to face former UFC champion Brandon Moreno in UFC Mexico City’s main event. It was a big spot for Albazi, who could’ve punched a ticket to his first UFC title shot against current champ Alexandre Pantoja with a win. However, it wasn’t meant to be — Albazi ultimately withdrew due to a neck injury, leading Brandon Royval to step up on short notice and headline opposite Moreno.
And Royval made good on that opportunity, surging back into title contention with a come-from-behind split decision win over Moreno after a back-and-forth war.
Albazi, however, was left less than impressed.
“They both looked horrible,” he wrote on social media Saturday night. “I see you guys soon.”
They both looked horrible. I see you guys soon
— The Prince (@AmirAlbazi) February 25, 2024
A native of Iraq, Albazi is currently 5-0 in his UFC run. He captured a controversial split decision win over Kai Kara-France in his most recent bout this past June.
Pantoja is expected to make the next defense of his UFC flyweight belt on May 4 at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The next challenger for Pantoja’s title has yet to be announced.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
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