LAS VEGAS — Fresh off back-to-back numbered events the past two weeks, the UFC will roll right into a massive featherweight main event on Saturday inside the Apex.
Former 145-pound champion Max Holloway (22-6) will take on Yair Rodriguez (13-2) at UFC Fight Night. For Holloway, 2021 will mark the first calendar year since 2015 in which he did not compete in a UFC title fight. But a win tonight would almost certainly set that up for him in 2022. As for Mexico’s Rodriguez, Holloway represents the biggest test of his career, and an opportunity to live up to the potential he has shown since 2014, when he won The Ultimate Fighter Latin America series.
In addition to the high-profile main event, UFC Fight Night features welterweight prospect Miguel Baeza, who is looking to rebound from the first loss of his career against a fellow striker in Khaos Williams. A bantamweight matchup between Song Yadong and Julio Arce also stands out as the main-card opener.
Follow along as Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim recap the action after each fight or watch UFC Fight Night on ESPN+.
Fight in progress:
Women’s flyweight: Cortney Casey (9-9, 5-8 UFC; -240) vs. Liana Jojua (8-4, 1-2 UFC; +200)
Lightweight: Rafael Alves (20-10, 1-1 UFC) def. Marc Diakiese (14-5, 5-5 UFC) by first-round submission (guillotine) | Watch this fight on ESPN+
Alves is not the kind of guy you want to make a mistake against.
After wobbling Diakiese with a left hand, Alves ran in for a flying knee. Diakiese was able to catch Alves and go for a takedown – but Alves grabbed onto a guillotine. Alves locked in the choke as he and Diakiese hit the ground and Diakiese tapped out. The submission finish for Alves came at 1:48 of the first round.
“Dana, I’m here to be a champion,” Alves said in his postfight interview, referring to UFC president Dana White. “I’m born to be a champion.”
Alves, 31, from Brazil, picked up his first UFC victory with that impressive sequence. He is a Dana White’s Contender Series alum and the former Titan FC interim lightweight champion. Diakiese, a 28-year-old Congo native fighting out of the United Kingdom, has lost two straight and five of his last seven.
Light heavyweight: Da-Un Jung (15-2-1, 4-0-1 UFC) def. Kennedy Nzechukwu (9-2, 3-2 UFC) by first-round KO | Watch this fight on ESPN+
Da-Un, of South Korea, knocked out Nzechukwu with standing elbows along the fence at the 3:04 mark of the opening round. The finish came after Da-Un hurt Nzechukwu on the feet, walked him to the fence and dropped him with elbows over the top.
It was a decisive finish for Da-Un and a bit of a puzzling performance by Nzechukwu, who barely attempted any strikes and mostly stood directly in front of Da-Un in a defensive posture. It is Nzechukwu’s first loss in four fights. Da-Un improves to 4-0-1 in the UFC.
Still to come:
Men’s featherweight: Max Holloway (22-6, 18-6 UFC; -625) vs. Yair Rodriguez (14-2 NC, 8-1 NC UFC; +450)
Heavyweight: Ben Rothwell (39-13, 9-7 UFC; -160) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima (18-8-1, 7-5 UFC; +135)
Women’s featherweight: Felicia Spencer (8-3, 2-3 UFC; -300) vs. Leah Letson (5-2, 1-0 UFC; +240)
Welterweight: Miguel Baeza (10-1, 3-1 UFC; -150) vs. Khaos Williams (12-2, 3-1 UFC; +125)
Men’s bantamweight: Song Yadong 17-5-1, 6-1-1 UFC; -135) vs. Julio Arce (17-4, 4-2 UFC; +115)
Lightweight: Thiago Moises (15-5, 4-3 UFC; -260) vs. Joel Alvarez (18-2, 3-1 UFC; +210)
Women’s flyweight: Cynthia Calvillo (9-3-1, 6-3-1 UFC; -130) vs. Andrea Lee (12-5, 4-3 UFC; +110)
Men’s featherweight: Sean Woodson (8-1, 2-1 UFC; -330) vs. Collin Anglin (8-2, 0-1 UFC; +260)