The UFC, at the Apex, with the Fight Night card. It sounds like a bad Clue outcome, but that was the case with UFC Vegas 102, which featured a middleweight main event that could help push a new contender towards the top of the weight class.
Former title challenger Jared Cannonier, at 40, was over two years removed from his loss to Israel Adesanya and a long shot to work his way back to a shot at gold for a second time. At 32, Brazil’s Gregory Rodrigues was still in his prime, and looking to break into the middleweight rankings, where Cannonier held the #7 spot. It would be a stretch to call the fight a possible “changing of the guard,” but “Robocop” Rodrigues was certainly fresh blood in a division where mainstays like Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Robert Whittaker were on the decline.
UFC Vegas 102: Cannonier vs. Rodrigues Weigh-In Results
Main card
Middleweight: Jared Cannonier (185.5) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (186)
Featherweight: Calvin Kattar (146) vs. Youssef Zalal (146)
Middleweight: Edmen Shahbazyan (185.5) vs. Dylan Budka (186)
Lightweight: Ismael Bonfim (156) vs. Nazim Sadykhov (156)
Middleweight: Rodolfo Vieira (185.5) vs. Andre Petroski (186)
Featherweight: Connor Matthews (146) vs. Jose Delgado (146)
Preliminary card
Women’s Strawweight: Angela Hill (115.5) vs. Ketlen Souza (115.5)
Lightweight: Jared Gordon (156) vs. Mashrabjon Ruziboev ***
Flyweight: Rafael Estevam (126) vs. Jesús Santos Aguilar (125.5)
Welterweight: Gabriel Bonfim (170.5) vs. Khaos Williams (169.5)
Bantamweight: Vince Morales (136) vs. Elijah Smith (135.5)
Heavyweight: Valter Walker (245) vs. Don’Tale Mayes (266)
Women’s Bantamweight: Julia Avila (135.5) vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti (134.5)
*** UFC announced the fight was off after Jared Gordon weighed in. Ruziboev never made it to the scale, due to illness.
