Few would dispute that UFC men’s featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and former champion Max Holloway are the two best 145-pounders in MMA.
Right behind them? We might find out on Saturday afternoon, when Brian Ortega meets Yair Rodriguez in a matinee main event of UFC Fight Night in Elmont, New York.
Ortega is 15-2 with one no contest, and the only losses have come to Volkanovski and Holloway. In fact, Ortega hasn’t fought since his unsuccessful challenge from Volkanovski last September. He is No. 4 in the ESPN featherweight rankings.
The ninth Rodriguez (13-3, 1 NC) is coming off a loss to Holloway in November. Prior to that, he had gone on a 12-fight streak with just one loss, to fellow former UFC champion Frankie Edgar.
Saturday’s main card at UBS Arena on Long Island is on ABC and ESPN+, starting at 2 p.m. ET. Preliminaries are on ESPN and ESPN+ at 11 a.m.
How to watch fights
Watch the main card on ABC: Watch ABC TV
Watch the prelims on ESPN: Watch ESPN | TV program
Stream all the fights on ESPN+: Download the ESPN app
Don’t have ESPN? Access immediately.
Don’t have ESPN+? Get it here.
There is also FightCenterwhich offers live updates for every UFC card.
Saturday’s UFC fight card
ABC/ESPN+, 2 p.m. ET
Men’s Featherweight: Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodríguez
Strawweight: Michelle Waterson vs. Amanda Lemos
Welterweight: Li Jingliang vs. Muslim Salikhov
Men’s Flyweight: Matt Schnell vs. Su Mudaerji
Men’s Featherweight: Shane Burgos vs. Charles Jourdain
Women’s Flyweight: Lauren Murphy vs. Miesha Tate
ESPN/ESPN+, 11 a.m. ET
Men’s Bantamweight: Ricky Simón vs. Jack Shore
Middleweight: Dalcha Lungiambula vs. Punahele Soriano
Men’s Featherweight: Bill Algeo vs. Herbert Burns
Light Heavyweight: Dustin Jacoby vs. Da-Un Jung
Middleweight: Dwight Grant vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Welterweight: Phil Rowe vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov
Strawweight: Jessica Penne vs. Emily Ducote
Top Stories
The Two Lives of Brian Ortega: From Menacing Streets to UFC Stardom
‘He’ll be Vinnie Chase and I’ll be Drama’: Brian Ortega fights for his family’s dreams
Inside Yair Rodriguez’s All-Time Great KO of “Korean Zombie”
Featherweights Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez will meet at UFC Fight Night on July 16 on Long Island
