Homefield Advantage | UFC Mexico

The Scoop: Never count out “The Assassin Baby.” Hot off a victory over rising star Amir Albazi, the two-time flyweight champ will look to start a run for his record-setting third title reign when he meets Steve Erceg in Saturday’s main event. 

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And at age just 31, Moreno still has plenty of time and talent to do exactly that. His prolific win résumé is a veritable who’s-who of flyweight greats, including Deiveson Figueiredo (twice), Kai Kara France (twice), Brandon Royval and Jussier Formiga, among many others. A victory against Australia’s “Astroboy” would maintain his perennial status as a title contender, and score his first victory on home soil since his third professional bout, way back in 2012.

The Scoop: Every fighter has a unique story, but “Black Spartan,” might be the only one who can claim to be an orthopedic surgeon when they’re not in the Octagon. Scoring a contract on the last season of Dana White’s Contender Series for his defeat of Xavier Franklin, the brother of UFC strawweight Melissa Martinez and former kickboxing champion gets the unique honor of making his first UFC walk in his home country.

UFC 314 SIT-DOWN INTERVIEWS: Alexander Volkanovski | Paddy Pimblett

Writers like this one will have trouble resisting wordplay variations of “the surgeon put on striking clinic,” but, to be fair, there’s an excellent chance that he might. Across his 11 wins, nine of them have come by knockout.

The Scoop: He made his UFC debut on last year’s UFC Mexico City card with one of the highlights of the show: a brilliant second-round rear naked choke of Denys Bondar. 

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He followed that up by becoming the biggest star of 2024’s Noche UFC pre-fight press conference, right before he won a wild back-and-forth contest with Ode’ Osbourne on that epic night at Sphere last September. “Lazy Boy” has proven to be anything but as he looks to extend his professional winning streak to eight when he meets Peru’s Kevin Borjas.

The Scoop: “Puro Chicali” was one of the big highlights of last year’s Mexico City event when he halted Daniel Lacerda in the first round with a beautiful triangle choke. He’ll look to please the hometown crowd yet again when he squares off with American CJ Vergara. 

Order UFC 314: Volkanovski vs Lopes

One of the most durable flyweights on the roster, the former Combate Global star touts a game that is the very definition of “well-rounded,” as evidenced by the wide variety of finishes across his 11 wins.

The Scoop: One of the most unique MMA homecoming stories in recent memory, Loopy Godinez will fight in her home country for the first time in her professional career. Her family fled cartel danger when she was just 14 years old and eventually took up residence in Vancouver.

Full Mexico Fight Card Preview

A dual resident of both Mexico and Canada, Godinez evolved into a decorated martial artist over the next 17 years. She continues to shine brightly in the UFC strawweight rankings, due to a fast-paced schedule that produced wins over the likes of Cynthia Calvillo, Emily Ducote, Tabatha Ricci and Loma Lookboonme, among others. She’ll look to add the Brazilian Julia Polastri to that list when the two clash on Saturday’s prelim card.