UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. Rodriguez, live results and analysis
ELMONT, N.Y. — A marquee featherweight matchup between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez is set to headline UFC Fight Night inside UBS Arena on Saturday. The main card airs on ABC (2 p.m. ET) and will be simulcast on ESPN+, with prelims on ESPN/ESPN+ at 11 a.m.
Ortega (15-2) is making his first appearance since he came up short in a title bid against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 266 last September. Rodriguez (13-3) is also coming off a defeat, a five-round decision loss to Max Holloway that, because of his performance, actually raised his stock.
The winner could very well challenge Volkanovskl for the 145-pound belt next. It will likely come down to Ortega, Rodriguez or Josh Emmett, who picked up a victory over Calvin Kattar last month.
In addition to the main event, Michelle Waterson-Gomez (18-9) will look to upset a dangerous new contender in Amanda Lemos (11-2-1).
Follow along as Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi recap the action from cageside, or watch the card on ESPN+.
Men’s featherweight: Shane Burgos (14-3, 7-3 UFC, -170) vs. Charles Jourdain (13-4-1, 4-3-1 UFC, +145)
Tate, one of the most popular fighters in women’s MMA, was positioned to get a potential title shot with a win in her new division. But Murphy would have none of that in Long Island.
Murphy damaged Tate, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, in every round and defended all her takedowns in a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) win in the UFC Long Island main card opener. By the end of the bout, Tate had bleeding from her nose and a nasty, bloody hematoma under his left eye.
All fights from UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. Rodriguez will be available to watch on ESPN+.
• Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodríguez
• Michelle Waterson vs. Amanda Lemos
• Li Jingliang vs. Muslim Salikhov
• Matt Schnell vs. Su Mudaerji
• Shane Burgos vs. Charles Jourdain
• Lauren Murphy vs. Miesha Tate
• Dalcha Lungiambula vs. Punahele Soriano
• Ricky Simón vs. Jack Shore
• Bill Algeo vs. Herbert Burns
• Dustin Jacoby vs. Da-Un Jung
• Dwight Grant vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
• Jessica Penne vs. Emily Ducote
Watch the complete card on ESPN+
ESPN had Murphy ranked No. 4 in the world at women’s flyweight and defended her spot admirably.
“I’ve dreamed about moments like this my whole career,” Murphy said. “When I’m healthy and focused, I’m a force to be reckoned with in this division.”
Murphy set the tone early by shirking Tate’s takedown attempts and looking strong in the clinch. A jab that caused bleeding from Tate’s nose didn’t hurt, either. Murphy took Tate down in the second round and landed hard elbows in the clinch, plus some ground and pound. The offense left Tate with bad swelling under her left eye, although Tate did land a huge elbow in the clinch late in the round.
In the third, Murphy landed more elbows in the clinch and defended Tate’s takedowns again. Murphy called out the winner of a fight coming up in September at UFC Paris between Jessica Andrade and Manon Fiorot.
Murphy, 38, rebounded from a fourth-round TKO loss to champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 266 last September. The Alaska-born Texas resident has won seven of her last nine fights.
“It’s gonna take more than a little ass whoopin’ to keep me away from the championship,” Murphy said of her loss to Shevchenko. “I’m not gonna stop until I’m the champion.”
Tate, 35, dropped down to flyweight for this fight after falling to Ketlen Vieira at bantamweight last November. After five years off last summer, the Las Vegas resident came out of retirement, beating Marion Reneau. Tate was the UFC women’s bantamweight champion in 2016, beating Holly Holm.
Soriano came out for Round 2 against a compromised Lungiambula and wasted no time before finishing the fight, dropping the South African fighter with a straight left hand and swarming him with punches before referee Dan Miragliotta stopped it at 28 seconds. The first round had been competitive, with each man effectively countering the other’s advances. But after the round ended with a grappling exchange, Lungiambula walked back to his corner while holding the right side of his torso, as there was visible damage to his ribcage.
Lungiambula started the second round with a head kick, but Soriano blocked it and responded with the left hand that quickly ended the fight and allowed the 29-year-old Hawaiian fighting out of Las Vegas to end a two-fight losing streak. Lungiambula, 34, has lost three fights in a row and four of his past five.
Simon won his fifth in a row emphatically, handing Shore the first loss of his career.
After a close Round 1, Simon delivered several game-changing highlights in the second. After failing on his first seven takedown attempts, he scored two of them early in the round, the second one a loud slam to the canvas. Shore did work his way back to his feet, but in an exchange near the cage, Simon landed a straight right hand that wobbled his opponent. Simon took the bout back to the canvas and finished it at 3:28 of the round with a head-and-arm triangle.
Simon, who is 29 and from Vancouver, Washington, has had finishes in three of his past four fights. Shore, a 27-year-old from Wales, had won his first five UFC bouts.
Algeo survived multiple submission attempts from Burns en route to a finish at 1:50 of the second round. Referee Keith Peterson waved it off when Burns refused to stand up as Algeo stepped away to try to force Burns to.
The fight was almost stopped between the first and second rounds when Burns slowly worked back to his corner and appeared to tell his older brother, UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns, that he didn’t want to continue. Burns eventually did make it out for the second round, but he looked hurt and exhausted and quickly tried to pull guard on Algeo.
It was a nice victory for Algeo, as he was forced to work out of a tight triangle choke by Burns in the opening minutes. Once Algeo worked out of the threat, he was dominant from top position, hurting Burns with punches and elbows. The win improves Algeo’s UFC record to 3-2. He has won two in a row. — Okamoto
Nothing like a walk-off knockout on a Saturday afternoon.
Jacoby, of Denver, scored a right-handed knockout over Jung at the 3:13 mark of the opening round. The fight had been competitive in the standup to that point, but one right hand down the middle was all it took for Jacoby to get the 11th knockout of his career.
Jacoby went into the bout as the UFC’s No. 15-ranked light heavyweight. Quietly, he’s been outstanding since signing with the promotion in 2020 off of Dana White’s Contender Series. He’s unbeaten in seven UFC appearances with a record of 6-0-1. This was his second victory of 2022.
Jung loses for the first time since 2015. — Okamoto
Stoltzfus finally picked up his first win in the UFC with a dominant three-round performance. All three judges scored the fight for Stoltzfus by 29-28.
It’s Stoltzfus’ first win in four appearances in the Octagon. He got off to a bit of a slow start, as both he and Grant searched for range in the opening round. Stoltzfus got going in the second frame, though, as he took Grant down and threatened with a rear-naked choke. The third round was all Stoltzfus. He picked Grant up, walked him to the center of the cage and emphatically slammed him to the canvas, where he controlled Grant for the rest of the bout.
Grant, 37, has lost three in a row and four of his past five. He is 3-5 overall in the UFC. — Okamoto
The 28-year-old Ducote looked impressive in her UFC debut, out-pointing Penne on the judges’ scorecards 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Ducote went to work on Penne’s lead leg early with kicks, and she kept it up throughout the fight. Penne could barely put weight on it by the third round, which robbed her of mobility and power. She fought through it but clearly lost the last round and was even staggered at one point by a right hand. She was unsuccessful on all eight of her takedown attempts, according to UFC Stats data.
Penne, 39, sees a two-fight win streak snapped. It was her first winning streak in the UFC. Ducote has now won three in a row, two of those coming in Invicta FC. — Okamoto
Men’s featherweight: Brian Ortega (15-2 1 NC, 7-2 1 NC UFC, -170) vs. Yair Rodríguez (14-3 1 NC, 8-2 1 NC UFC, +145)
Strawweight: Michelle Waterson-Gomez (18-9, 6-5 UFC, +270) vs. Amanda Lemos (11-2-1, 5-2 UFC, -340)
Welterweight: Li Jingliang (18-7, 10-5 UFC, +140) vs. Muslim Salikhov (18-2, 5-1 UFC, -165)
Men’s flyweight: Matt Schnell (15-6 1 NC, 5-4 1 NC UFC, +220) vs. Su Mudaerji (16-4, 3-1 UFC, -270)
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