| UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Stephens | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Stephens | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | September 21, 2019 (2019-09-21) | |||
| Venue | Mexico City Arena | |||
| City | Mexico City, Mexico | |||
| Attendance | 10,112[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Stephens (also known asUFC Fight Night 159 orUFC on ESPN+ 17) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 21, 2019, atMexico City Arena inMexico City, Mexico.[2][3]
While not officially announced by the organization, the promotion was initially targeting a featherweight bout between former title challengersBrian Ortega andChan Sung Jung to serve as the event headliner.[4] However, promotion officials elected to go in another direction and a featherweight bout betweenThe Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight winnerYair Rodríguez andJeremy Stephens served as the main event.[5]
A women's strawweight bout between Istela Nunes and formerInvicta FC Strawweight ChampionAngela Hill was scheduled for the event. However, on August 12, it was reported that Nunes was removed from the card due to a failed drug test.[6] She was replaced byAriane Carnelossi.[7]
Alex Perez was scheduled to faceSergio Pettis at the event. However, Perez pulled out of the bout on August 26 citing an injury.[8] He was replaced by promotional newcomerTyson Nam.[9]
Marion Reneau was scheduled to faceIrene Aldana at the event. However, Reneau pulled out of the bout on September 11 for undisclosed reasons.[10] She was replaced by promotional newcomerVanessa Melo.[11] At the weigh-ins, Melo weighed in at 140 pounds, 4 pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit of 136. She was fined 30% of her purse and her bout with Aldana proceeded at a catchweight.[12]
| Main Card (ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Yair Rodríguez | vs. | Jeremy Stephens | No Contest (accidental eye poke) | 1 | 0:15 | [a] |
| Women's Strawweight | Carla Esparza | def. | Alexa Grasso | Decision (majority) (28–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Flyweight | Askar Askarov | vs. | Brandon Moreno | Draw (split) (28–28, 29–28, 27–30) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Catchweight (140 lb) | Irene Aldana | def. | Vanessa Melo | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Steven Peterson | def. | Martin Bravo | KO (spinning backfist) | 2 | 1:31 | |
| Preliminary Card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Bantamweight | José Alberto Quiñónez | def. | Carlos Huachin | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Kyle Nelson | def. | Polo Reyes | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:36 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Angela Hill | def. | Ariane Carnelossi | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 3 | 1:56 | |
| Flyweight | Sergio Pettis | def. | Tyson Nam | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Paul Craig | def. | Vinicius Moreira | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 3:19 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Bethe Correia | def. | Sijara Eubanks | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Claudio Puelles | def. | Marcos Rosa Mariano | Decision (unanimous) (30–25, 30–25, 30–25) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[1]
