Noche UFC returns Saturday, September 12, live from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, though the card looks nothing like it did when it was first put together.
Jean Silva headlines for the second straight year, but his opponent isn’t Yair Rodriguez anymore. Rodriguez withdrew from the featherweight matchup in August due to an injury, and Jose Delgado stepped in on four weeks’ notice.
Silva enters at 17-3, riding a January decision over Arnold Allen. Delgado is 12-2 and trains locally at The MMA Lab, an Arizona native getting the biggest opportunity of his career on short notice.
“I have his social security number, his IDs; I know where he sleeps, I know where he lives, I know where he trains,” Silva said of his new opponent this week, treating the late-notice matchup as an edge rather than a setback.
The card has also lost a pair of undercard fights since it was first confirmed in August. Kelvin Gastelum withdrew from his bout with kickboxer Yousri Belgaroui, with Djorden Santos stepping in as the replacement. Rodrigo Vera’s fight with Ramiro Jimenez was scrapped entirely after a visa issue kept Vera out of the country, and Sean King now opens the card against Jessie Rosas.
Full Noche UFC 4 Card
Two former UFC champions from Mexico remain on the lineup. Alexa Grasso meets top contender Manon Fiorot at women’s flyweight, and Brandon Moreno takes on Joseph Morales at 125 pounds.
- Jean Silva vs. Jose Delgado, featherweight
- Manon Fiorot vs. Alexa Grasso, women’s flyweight
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta, heavyweight
- Brandon Moreno vs. Joseph Morales, flyweight
- Dan Ige vs. David Martinez, bantamweight
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Muslim Salikhov
- Yousri Belgaroui vs. Djorden Santos
- Drakkar Klose vs. Tommy Gantt, lightweight
- Tommy McMillen vs. Marwan Rahiki
- Rafa Garcia vs. Rong Zhu
- Sean King vs. Jessie Rosas
- JJ Aldrich vs. Regina Tarin, women’s flyweight
Prelims start at 1 p.m. ET, with the main card following at 5 p.m. ET, both streaming on Paramount+. The early windows come down to scheduling, not choice. Zuffa Boxing runs Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn in Las Vegas the same night, so the promotion wanted the octagon work wrapped before that card gets going.
Noche UFC is the UFC’s fourth annual card built around Mexican Independence Day weekend. It’s landed in Las Vegas and San Antonio in past years before this trip to Glendale.
