UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2

UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2
The poster for UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	February 24, 2024 (2024-02-24)
Venue	Arena CDMX
City	Mexico City, Mexico
Attendance	21,546 [1]
Total gate	Not announced [1]
Event chronology
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2 UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev

UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2 (also known as UFC Fight Night 237 and UFC on ESPN+ 95) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 24, 2024, at Arena CDMX, in Mexico City, Mexico. ^[2]

Background

The event marked the promotion's sixth visit to Mexico City and first since UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Stephens in September 2019. ^[2]

A flyweight bout between former two-time UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi was originally expected to serve as a five-round co-main event, but was elevated as the event's headliner. ^{[3] [4]} However, Albazi withdrew due to a neck injury and was replaced by former title challenger (also former LFA Flyweight Champion) Brandon Royval. ^[5] The pair previously met at UFC 255 in November 2020 which Moreno won by first round TKO. ^[6] Moreno and Albazi were later scheduled to meet in November 2024 at UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Albazi. ^[7]

A featherweight rematch between former interim UFC Featherweight Champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight winner) Yair Rodríguez and former title challenger Brian Ortega took place in the co-main event, which marked the sixth time a non-main event and non-title bout has been scheduled for five rounds. ^[8] The pairing previously met at UFC on ABC: Ortega vs. Rodríguez which Rodríguez won by first round TKO due to a shoulder injury. ^[9]

A flyweight rematch between Edgar Chairez and Daniel Lacerda took place the event. ^[10] The pair had previously fought at UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 in September 2023, where the bout was ruled a no-contest due to premature referee stoppage. ^[11] They were booked again for UFC Fight Night: Yusuff vs. Barboza two months later, but the bout was cancelled due to Lacerda suffering medical issues after the weigh-in. ^[12] At the weigh ins, both fighters missed weight. Chairez weighed in at 131 pounds and Lacerda at 127 pounds, five pounds and one pound over the flyweight non-title fight limit, respectively. Their bout proceeded at catchweight with both fighters fined a percentage of their purse. ^[13]

A bantamweight bout between Raul Rosas Jr. and The Ultimate Fighter 29 bantamweight winner Ricky Turcios was expected to take place at the event. ^[14] However, Rosas Jr. was forced withdraw just before the bout was expected to begin due to an illness. As a result, the bout was initially pushed back one week to UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev ^[15] before it was ultimately cancelled by the promotion. ^[16]

Results

Main card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Flyweight	Brandon Royval	def.	Brandon Moreno	Decision (split) (48–47, 46–49, 48–47)	5	5:00
Featherweight	Brian Ortega	def.	Yair Rodríguez	Submission (arm-triangle choke)	3	0:58
Lightweight	Daniel Zellhuber	def.	Francisco Prado	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27)	3	5:00
Women's Strawweight	Yazmin Jauregui	def.	Sam Hughes	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Manuel Torres	def.	Chris Duncan	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	1:46
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Bantamweight	Raoni Barcelos	def.	Cristian Quiñonez	Submission (rear-naked choke)	3	2:04
Flyweight	Jesús Santos Aguilar	def.	Mateus Mendonça	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)	3	5:00
Catchweight (131 lb)	Edgar Chairez	def.	Daniel Lacerda	Submission (triangle choke)	1	2:17
Lightweight	Farès Ziam	def.	Claudio Puelles	Decision (split) (28–29, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Ronaldo Rodríguez	def.	Denys Bondar	Submission (rear-naked choke)	2	4:59
Flyweight	Felipe dos Santos	def.	Victor Altamirano	Decision (split) (27–30, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Muhammad Naimov	def.	Erik Silva	TKO (leg injury)	1	0:44

^[17]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. ^[18]

• Fight of the Night: Daniel Zellhuber vs. Francisco Prado
• Performance of the Night: Brian Ortega and Manuel Torres

See also

• Martial Arts portal

• 2024 in UFC
• List of current UFC fighters
• List of UFC events

References

1. Mike Bohn (2024-02-25). "UFC Fight Night 237 post-event facts: Yair Rodriguez hits unprecedented career slump". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
2. Steven Marrocco (2023-12-15). "UFC confirms event dates, locations including UFC 299, UFC 300". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
3. Staff (2023-12-02). "Brandon Moreno meets Amir Albazi in five-round co-main event in UFC's expected Mexico City return". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
4. Cole Shelton (2023-12-21). "Dana White announces several new fights including three for UFC 300". bjpenn.com. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
5. Steve Marrocco (2024-01-11). "UFC Mexico City gets new headliner after Amir Albazi forced off card". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
6. Dan Hiergesell (2020-11-21). "Highlights! Brandon Moreno earns stoppage after Brandon Royval separates shoulder at UFC 255". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
7. Damon Martin (2024-09-03). "Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi set as new main event for UFC Edmonton". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
8. Staff (2023-12-21). "Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega 2 co-headlines UFC Fight Night in Mexico City with five rounds". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
9. Damon Martin (2023-07-16). "Yair Rodriguez wins after Brian Ortega suffers brutal dislocated shoulder in UFC Long Island main event". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
10. Vipin Raghuwanshi (2023-11-20). "Edgar Chairez vs Daniel Lacerda rebooked for UFC February 24". itnwwe.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
11. Danny Segura (2023-09-16). "Noche UFC video: Bad referee stoppage leads to no contest in Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
12. Jay Anderson (2023-10-13). "UFC Vegas 81 loses Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda rematch due to medical issue". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
13. Staff (2024-02-23). "UFC Fight Night 237 weigh-in results: Two fighters miss mark, including five-pound botch". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
14. Steven Marrocco (2024-01-05). "Raul Rosas Jr. faces Ricky Turcios at UFC Mexico City". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
15. Damon Martin (2024-02-24). "Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios scrapped from UFC Mexico City just before walkouts". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
16. Damon Martin (2024-02-27). "Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios no longer expected at UFC Vegas 87 on Saturday". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
17. "UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
18. Dan Hiergesell (2024-01-25). "Bonuses! Ortega, Torres lead $50K winners with memorable submissions - UFC Mexico City". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2024-01-25.