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UFC Fight Night 159: Rodriguez vs. Stephens preview, fight card and where to watch

After ending last week's main event in Vancouver with a first-round TKO, the Ultimate Fighting Championship travels south to Mexico to host UFC Fight Night 159: Rodriguez vs. Stephens.

UFC Fight Night 159 to take place on September 21

Bengaluru, September 19: After ending last week's main event in Vancouver with a first-round TKO, the Ultimate Fighting Championship travels south to Mexico to host UFC Fight Night 159: Rodriguez vs. Stephens at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City on Saturday (September 21).

The promotion's fifth event at the venue will be headlined by a top ten featherweight contenders bout between seventh-ranked Yair Rodriguez and eighth-placed Jeremy Stephens.

In the co-main event, eighth-ranked Carla Esparza will meet ninth-ranked Alexa Grasso in a women's strawweight bout.

Also, on the main card, Mexico's own Brandon Moreno returns to the Octagon to face UFC debutant Askar Askarov in a flyweight bout. Plus, hometown's Irene Aldana, who was originally scheduled to face Marion Reneau now takes on Vanessa Melo in a women's bantamweight bout.

And to conclude, the main card bouts, in a featherweight scrap, Martin Bravo will look to snap a two-fight losing streak when he takes on Steven Peterson, who holds a similar record.

Meanwhile, the preliminary card, will see some local talent in action along side the likes of Angela Hill, Paul Craig, Polo Reyes, Bethe Correia, Sijara Eubanks, Sergio Pettis, Tyson Nam and Jose Alberto Quinonez.

Here is all you need to know about UFC Fight Night 159:

Venue, date, start time and broadcast info

When and where is UFC Fight Night 159 taking place?

The event takes place on Saturday (September 21) at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Mexico. Due to time difference the event will take place on Sunday (September 22) morning in India.

What time does UFC Mexico City start?

The preliminary card starts at 2.30 AM IST (September 22); 4 PM Local Time (September 21); 9 PM GMT (September 22). The main card, meanwhile, starts at 5.30 AM IST (September 22); 7 PM Local Time (September 21); 12 AM GMT (September 22).

Where to watch UFC Fight Night 159 in India?

The main card will be show live on Sony TEN 2, while Sony LIV live stream it. The preliminary card, however, can only be streamed using UFC Fight Pass in India.

Main Event: Yair Rodriguez vs. Jeremy Stephens preview

Rodriguez looks to build on his 2018 Knockout of the Year effort against Chan Sung Jung as he takes on Stephens, one of the stalwarts of the featherweight division, in this weekend's main event.

Rodriguez ended an 18-month layoff last November, when he stepped in to replace Frankie Edgar, to take on "The Korean Zombie" in what turned into one of the best fights of the year.

With literally one second remaining, Rodriguez knocked out Jung with an upwards elbow out of nowhere. And with that result, he bounced back from a TKO loss to Edgar and took his UFC wins tally to seven. So, he will look to start another winning streak.

But, in order to do that, he'll need to get through Stephens, one of the most senior fighters on the roster in terms of appearances and the kind of tough, dangerous opponent who is more than capable of spoiling a homecoming for Rodriguez.

The 33-year-old veteran is one of those fighters whose record doesn't tell the whole story of his career, as Stephens is 15-15 in his 30 Octagon appearances, but has made a living facing top competition and being a difficult out at all times.

Lil Heathen comes into the weekend's fight on the back of two successive losses with the latest being a decision loss to Zabit Magomedsharipov. So, he'll look to get back to winning ways this Saturday.

Co-main Event: Carla Esparza vs. Alexa Grasso preview

The co-main event almost mirrors the main event as it features the strawweight division's first champion looking to halt the ascension of one of the weight class's brightest young stars, who enters off the most impressive showing of her career.

Esparza was the first to carry the title, but dropped the belt in her very first title defence. Her loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185, led many to dismiss Esparza, but the Team Oyama representative has remained a competitive, capable member of the Top 10 throughout.

The Cookie Monster comes into the weekend's fight on the back of a decision win over Virna Jandiroba at UFC Fight Night 150 in April earlier this year.

Grasso, on the other hand, has stumbled since arriving in the UFC with a ton of hype and winning her debut. She has lost two of three and has spent most of the time on the sidelines due to injuries.

And in June during her last outing, against former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz, she turned in her best performance to date, beating the Polish veteran to the punch at every turn en route to a unanimous decision victory.

Scheduled fight card of UFC Fight Night 159

Main Card

1. Featherweight bout: Yair Rodriguez vs. Jeremy Stephens

2. Women's Strawweight bout: Carla Esparza vs. Alexa Grasso

3. Flyweight bout: Brandon Moreno vs. Askar Askarov

4. Women's Bantamweight bout: Irene Aldana vs. Vanessa Melo

5. Featherweight bout: Martin Bravo vs. Steven Peterson

Preliminary Card

1. Bantamweight bout: Jose Alberto Quinonez vs. Carlos Huachin

2. Featherweight bout: Polo Reyes vs. Kyle Nelson

3. Women's Strawweight bout: Ariane Carnelossi vs. Angela Hill

4. Flyweight bout: Sergio Pettis vs. Tyson Nam

5. Light Heavyweight bout: Vinicius Moreira vs. Paul Craig

6. Women's Bantamweight bout: Sijara Eubanks vs. Bethe Correia

7. Lightweight bout: Claudio Puelles vs. Marcos Rosa Mariano

Story first published: Thursday, September 19, 2019, 12:51 [IST]
Other articles published on Sep 19, 2019