The official UFC Phoenix fight card has been finalized and will occur in sunny Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday, January 15. Note: that’s Sunday, not the typical Saturday.
The card will be headlined by a compelling featherweight showdown between rising Mexican prospect Yair Rodriguez, and our very own BJ Penn.
Rodriguez will enter the fight having won his first five bouts in the Octagon. During this stretch, he has scored decisions over Leonardo Morales, Charles Rosa, Dan Hooker, and most recently, Alex Caceres. The undeniable highlight of his time in the Octagon, however, was a 2016 knockout of the year contender over Andre Fili. He’s 9-1 in sum.
Penn will step onto the canvas in Phoenix having not fought since July of 2014, when he was TKO’d by an old rival in Frankie Edgar. Prior to that loss, he gave up decisions to top-10 welterweights in Rory MacDonald and Nick Diaz, fought Jon Fitch to a draw, and KO’d welterweight legend Matt Hughes. He’s 16-10-2 overall.
Elsewhere on the main card, we’ll be treated to a lightweight scrap between Joe Lauzon and Marcin Held, a welterweight scrap between Court McGee and Ben Saunders, an a bantamweight contender bout between Jimmie Rivera and Bryan Caraway.
See a full rundown of this anticipated card’s lineup below.
Official UFC Phoenix Fight Card:
The Main Card | 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on Fox Sports 1
145 lbs.: Yair Rodriguez vs. BJ Penn
155 lbs.: Joe Lauzon vs. Marcin Held
170 lbs.: Court McGee vs. Ben Saunders
135 lbs.: Bryan Caraway vs. Jimmie Rivera
The Prelims | 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Fox Sports 1
125 lbs.: John Moraga vs. Sergio Pettis
135 lbs.: Augusto Mendes vs. Frankie Saenz
265 lbs.: Aleksei Oleinik vs. Viktor Pesta
155 lbs.: Tony Martin vs. Alex White
The Fight Pass Prelims | 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT on UFC Fight Pass
115 lbs.: Nina Ansaroff vs. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger
155 lbs.: Drakkar Klose vs. Devin Powell
265 lbs.: Walt Harris vs. Chase Sherman
205 lbs.: Joachim Christensen vs. Bojan Mihajlovic
265 lbs.: Cyril Asker vs. Dmitrii Smoliakov
Which fight on the UFC Phoenix bill are you most excited for? Sound off, PENN Nation!