The UFC are no stranger when it comes to packing out venues across the world, week in and week out. This weekend is no different as the UFC brings an action packed evening of fights to Mexico City, headlined by former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno who takes on a dangerous striker in Brandon Royval.
The prelims of UFC Fight Night 237 kick off with the return of featherweight prospect Muhammad Naimov taking on Erik “The King” Silva. Naimov certainly has the edge according to the sports-books with oddsmakers setting his opening line at -280. The matchup is fairly straightforward & should be a dominant win by knockout or submission for the betting favorite.
Next up we have one of my favorite prospects in the flyweight division, Felipe Dos Santos who takes on Victor Altamirano. Dos Santos is coming off a competitive loss via decision to top flyweight contender Manel Kape and I believe he will bounce back in tremendous fashion on Saturday night.
Another key fight to mention on the prelims is the “cursed” matchup at flyweight between Edgar Chairez and Daniel Lacerda. The UFC has tried putting these two prospects together three separate times and for whatever reason, there is always an issue preventing it from happening. Their first scheduled bout was cancelled due to injury and while they did make it into the octagon for the second matchup, the fight ended in a no-contest due to a premature referee stoppage. You’d think “third time’s the charm” right? Well Daniel Lacerda came in one pound over during weigh-ins on Friday morning followed by Chairez who was five pounds over the limit. Luckily, the UFC has decided to keep this bout on the card- only changing it from flyweight to catchweight. Regardless, Edgar Chairez should be able to finish Lacerda who can be far too reckless at times & is on a four-fight skid coming into this weekend.
The main card begins with lightweights Manuel Torres and Chris Duncan squaring off in a matchup that’s bound to produce fireworks. Duncan is by no means a bad fighter but is clearly the slower of the two prospects and will struggle with the speed of Torres, specifically in round one. If the fight goes into the later rounds, Duncan may find success as Torres does not have the best cardio.
Then we have a women’s strawweight matchup between Yazmin Jauregui and Sam Hughes. Jauregui is coming off a brutal first round KO loss to Denise Gomes and looks to get back on track come Saturday night.
Moving on to the Bantamweight division, we have an exciting matchup between TUF winner Ricky Turcios and the grappling phenom, Raul Rosas Jr. While Rosas Jr. has faced some backlash after losing to Christian Rodriguez at the start of 2023, he bounced back in tremendous fashion- getting a first round KO win over Terrence Mitchell in his last bout. Turcios aims to disrupt the young prospect’s hype train with a win on Saturday night but it’s no short order. Rosas Jr. will be fighting in his home country for the first time since joining the UFC and I believe he will put the division on notice with a big performance.
Then we have the highly anticipated fight between lightweight prospects Daniel Zellhuber & Francisco Prado. Both fighters are highly skilled & have the tools necessary to get a finish either on the feet or on the mat. The hometown favorite in Zellhuber certainly has all the tools to defeat Prado and will have opportunities to showcase his submission ability should the fight go to the ground. However, Prado is a dangerous fight for any 155er as he can shut your lights out at any point. One thing to note is Zellhuber’s tendency to leave his chin up in the air when exiting the pocket as that could leave an opening for Prado to pull off an upset.
Finally, we have the Co-main event: A rematch between top Featherweight’s Brian Ortega & Yair Rodriguez. Their first matchup in 2022 ended unceremoniously with Brian Ortega suffering a fight-ending shoulder injury in just the first round. However for the short time we did see these two in the octagon, it was abundantly clear to me that Rodriguez was getting the better of Ortega in the standup exchanges. I believe Yair will look even more impressive on Saturday night and will have an added boost of motivation after watching the 145 pound title change hands. Ortega may have shown extreme
levels of durability throughout his career but the long layoff and injuries will not help him, especially against someone like Yair. I don’t see this one going all five rounds and no matter who gets their hand raised, I know we will get an incredible fight.
Last but certainly not least, we have the main event between former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno and title challenger Brandon Royval. Moreno is returning after losing his belt to Pantoja at the start of last year and is extremely motivated to get it back as soon as possible. Royval, who is stepping in on short notice, is also coming off of a loss to the champion in Pantoja and has been adamant that he didn’t perform to his full potential, wanting to show his true ability in this next bout. As much as I hate writing off any fighter’s chance at winning, I genuinely don’t see Royval’s path to victory and think Moreno will use his speed and experience in all disciplines to get his hand raised. A decision win is the most likely outcome for Moreno however Royval will have to take risks to have a shot at success & that very well could lead to a finish for either fighter.
The UFC continues to bring us these talent-filled cards every weekend and UFC Fight Night Mexico City is no different. A healthy mix of prospects and top contenders is a sure recipe
for a magical night.
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