Martinez (12-1) made it into the UFC off the back of a decision victory over Xavier Franklin at DWCS in 2024. After scoring an impressive first round TKO of Saimon Oliveira in his UFC debut, he steps into a short notice bout at Noche UFC.

“I had several changes. I was preparing for the Ecuadorian Carlos Vera. Then Quang Le, but just a couple of weeks ago I got a call from my manager to offer me this fight, a ranked fighter,” Martinez told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.

“I discussed it with my family and my coaches, and I felt ready to go. My coaches felt the same so that’s how the fight came to be.”

The experience factor is clearly on Font’s side, but Martinez isn’t too concerned. He’s relying on his own background as he prepares for Saturday’s fight.

“He’s a high-level striker. He’s kept his spot at the top for a long time, but I’ve fought great fighters as well. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, and I’m ready for this fight,” he said.

Noche UFC was originally slated for Guadalajara, Mexico, but Arena Guadalajara—the brand-new venue under construction—wasn’t completed in time. As a result, the card was eventually moved to San Antonio.

“At first I was (disappointed). I wanted to fight in my home country, representing for my people, but I have the people in my heart,” he said.

“I’m fighting with the Mexican people in my heart and that’s where they’ll be.”

Watch the full media day scrum with David Martinez above. He faces Rob Font this Saturday night at Noche UFC.

* Translated by Cageside Press

The post David Martinez Carries Mexico in His Heart Into Noche UFC Showdown with Rob Font appeared first on Cageside Press.

Gastelum (19-10) has endured a rough stretch over the past few years, leading many to believe he may be fighting for his roster spot at this point. He doesn’t see it that way.

“You know I know I’m not in the position where I want to be in my career. I want to be back fighting for that title or whatever and I’m nowhere near that,” Gastelum told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.

“I just need to stack some Ws so that I can get back to that.”

At Noche UFC, he faces Stoltzfus, who may not be the picture of consistency but still presents some tough challenges. For Gastelum to get back in form, he’ll have to prove he can still compete at this level.

“I need to display my skills. I’ve gotten better, but I haven’t been able to show that in my fights. It’s unfortunate because I know how good I am, and I just haven’t been able to show that in the fights,” he said.

“I think I put a lot of pressure before into trying to have like a big showing, but instead of putting pressure on that, I think I’m just going to ease off on the pressure. Try to have fun a lot more.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Kelvin Gastelum above. He faces Dustin Stoltzfus at Noche UFC on Saturday night.

The post Kelvin Gastelum, “I just need to stack some Ws”, Get Back Into Title Picture appeared first on Cageside Press.

Font (22-8) is taking on a late replacement opponent in Martinez after his original fight with Raul Rosas Jr. fell apart when the 20-year-old pulled out with an injury. For Font, it’s just another twist he’s all too familiar with.

“You know what’s funny? I was like three weeks out like ‘man I hope he makes it to this fight’. I just had a feeling,” Font told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.

“They sent the Countdown show for the co-main event and the camera guy got a call. I could hear him.”

The person on the other end of the call asked the cameraman if Font was nearby and could hear him. Then the cameraman stepped out of the room.

“I’m like ah man something’s up. Then the next day I got the call. The worst part about it is I’m kind of used to this. This is my 9th opponent in the UFC that this happened. My debut was like this,” he said.

The opponent is an unusual one for Font, given that this will be Martinez’s second official UFC bout. The difference in age and experience doesn’t bother Font one bit.

“Hell no, man. I go to catch them now before they get better, you know,” Font joked with a laugh.

“Give me them young guys. I catch them now before they get to like that 25, 27. Get that grown man strength.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Rob Font above. He faces David Martinez at Noche UFC on Saturday night.

The post Rob Font Used To Short Notice Opponents, “Hell no, catch them now before they get better.” appeared first on Cageside Press.

Kicking off this Noche UFC edition of TTP is our interview with Dana White’s Contender Series heavyweight, Steven Asplund. Asplund discusses getting the short notice call to fight on Contender Series and how he couldn’t jump at the opportunity fast enough. He then talks about the journey to get to this point. He also gets emotional talking about doing this for his dad, who had a long MMA career himself, and his family. In addition to all of that, he breaks down his fight on Tuesday for us and gives us a prediction.

Fights, Dogs and Parlays: Noche UFC (16:34)

After a wild and action-packed UFC Paris, we stay on the road for Noche UFC. Yet another Fighting Nerd gets a chance to take a big step forward. Jean Silva hits the main event against Diego Lopes. Plus, Rob Font looks to make it three in a row when he meets David Martinez in the co-main. We’ll break down those fights as well as some of our other favorite fights on the main card. Plus, as always, we’re hitting you with an underdog and a plus-money parlay that we think will make your wallet fat this weekend. For this segment, all odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Cristina Brador Interview (25:19)

Closing out this UFC Paris edition of TTP is our interview with LFA strawweight, Cristina Brador. Brador talks about getting a slightly later start in the world of MMA and why that happened. She also shares a story about how it all got started thanks to needing to get some negative energu out of her system. After taking to it well, she’s now 5-1 in her first six fights with a real argument for a perfect 6-0. She’s ready for her LFA 217 fight this weekend and gives us the breakdown of that.

The post TTP Ep. 497: Steven Asplund, Cristina Brador, and Noche UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

Now, it has lost its co-main event as well.

Raul Rosas Jr. (11-1), who was supposed to have faced Rob Font (22-8) in the penultimate fight of the September card, has been forced out of the bout due to injury. News of the change was first reported by Wristlock MMA.

The bantamweight clash was the highest on the card to feature Mexican-born talent. The main event features a pair of Brazilian fighters, Diego Lopes (who fights out of Mexico) and Jean Silva.

Rosas, who appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series as a 17-year old to earn a UFC deal, has won his last four fights. Font has notched back-to-back victories, and was looked at as another step up in competition for the youngster.

The nature of Rosas Jr’s injury is yet to be revealed.

Noche UFC takes place on September 13, 2025 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas and is booked to celebrate Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16). The following match-ups have been reported for the event:

• Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva
• Rafa García vs. Jared Gordon
• José Daniel Medina vs. Duško Todorović
• Claudio Puelles vs. Joaquim Silva
• Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos
• Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas
• Jesús Santos Aguilar vs. Luis Gurule
• Montserrat Rendon vs. Alice Pereira
• Alessandro Costa vs. Alden Coria
• David Martinez vs. Quang Le
• Kelvin Gastelum vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
• Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Daniil Donchenko
• Alexander Hernandez vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira

The post Raul Rosas Jr Out of Noche UFC Co-Headliner appeared first on Cageside Press.

Edgar Chairez (12-6, 1NC) has been forced to withdraw from the San Antonio, Texas-based event on September 13, 2025, where he was expected to face Alessandro Costa.

The 29-year old flyweight announced the news on his Instagram story, citing a leg injury as the culprit. While Chairez initially tried to push trough it, his body (or at the very least his leg) unfortunately did not cooperate.

Mexico’s Edgar Chairez is 2-2 under inside the UFC octagon to date, and is coming off a Performance of the Night-winning submission victory over CJ Vergara back in March. He previously appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series.

This year’s Noche UFC was originally booked to take place in Guadalajara, Mexico to coincide with Mexican Independence Day. The card, however, was eventually shifted to San Antonio due to construction delays with the original venue.

Rising stars Diego Lopes and Jean Silva headline the event in a promising featherweight match-up. Prior to being moved, the event had been expected to be broadcast as a Pay-Per-View. It has since been switched to a Fight Night instead, with no UFC PPV expected to take place in September.

A replacement opponent likely to be secured for Alessandro Costa, meanwhile, especially given that Noche UFC is still several weeks away. The event as it stands currently features the following eleven reported fights:

• Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva
• Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos
• Claudio Puelles vs. Joaquim Silva
• Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas
• José Daniel Medina vs. Duško Todorović
• Montserrat Rendon vs. Alice Pereira
• Jesús Santos Aguilar vs. Luis Gurule
• Raquel Pennington vs. Norma Dumont
• Rafa García vs. Jared Gordon
• Rob Font vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
• Carlos Vera vs. David Martinez

The post Edgar Chairez Out of September’s Noche UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

It will also be downgraded to a Fight Night and no longer a numbered event. It was set to be UFC 320.

The UFC announced the change during the UFC Vegas 107 broadcast.

According to the promotion, and reporters who had been covering this for a few weeks now, Arena Guadalajara was not going to be built in time for the event. The arena, which is designed to hold 20,000, is very much behind schedule. Leading up to this move the venue had lost concerts from names such as Katy Perry.

The rumored main event in Guadalajara was rumored to be Yair Rodriguez challenging Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight title for the second time. With the change to San Antonio, and the downgrade to a fight night, no title fight will be on the card.

It also begs the question, if the rumors were true, does Rodriguez still get the title shot? Or does the promotion let recent featherweight bouts help them get a #1 contender?

The broadcast mentioned that the UFC aims to have Noche UFC in Guadalajara in 2026.

The post Noche UFC Moved From Guadalajara To San Antonio, Texas appeared first on Cageside Press.

Turns out, he was right.

The Pay-Per-View event, headlined by Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley at the unique Las Vegas venue, has now won two of them.

The technically impressive broadcast picked up two Sports Emmys, for best Studio or Production Design/Art Direction and Graphic Design – Specialty, on Tuesday. The card, the second Noche UFC event, was timed to coincide with Mexican Independence Day, and offered absolutely stunning visuals for those attending in person, as well as fans watching at home.

Deadline has the full list of winners.

The spectacle is believed to be a one-and-done for the company, due to their deal with the T-Mobile Arena, also in Las Vegas, not to mention the reported $20 million dollar price tag on producing the event.

Still, White had said during the event’s post-fight press conference, attended by Cageside Press, that “it should” win an Emmy award. “Listen, I talked a lot of sh*t for a lot of years about boxing and Showtime. I always like to push the envelope and make it better. When new technology comes out, we try to raise the bar because I think it should be. What these guys pulled off, we should be stepping over Emmys at the office.”

He’s stepping over two of them at least.

The post Noche UFC at The Sphere Lands Pair of Emmys appeared first on Cageside Press.

Promotion officials announced the news during Saturday’s UFC Mexico City broadcast. The company also revealed that the card will double as UFC 320, billing it as “UFC 320 at Noche UFC presented by Bud Light.”

That means there will almost certainly be a title fight or two involved, though no bouts have been announced as of yet.

Last year’s Noche UFC was UFC 306, and saw two title fights: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso 3, and in the main event, Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili for the promotion’s bantamweight crown.

Noche UFC was launched in 2023, timed to coincide with Mexican Independence Day, and celebrates the nation’s fighting spirit.

The UFC has never before visited Guadalajara, though they’ve set up shop in Mexico City seven times, and Monterrey once. Lobo Gym, home to the likes of Grasso and occasionally Mexican-Canadian Loopy Godinez, is situated in the city however.

The UFC has set up a mini-site on their official website for this year’s Noche UFC/UFC 320, where fans can sign up to stay on top of the latest news, and get informed as to on-sale dates and other info from the event.

The post Noche UFC Announced for September in Guadalajara, Will Serve as UFC 320 appeared first on Cageside Press.

At least that’s what it’s seemed like not only in the lead up to UFC 306, but now following it. Former champion Sean O’Malley released a video saying he’s rewatched their fight at Noche UFC and declared himself the winner.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Suga Sean O’Malley (@sugasean)

“I’m back! Just rewatched the fight, I won round 1, 3 and 5! F*ck you Merab! You’re still a b*tch! I’m the champ! And still, undefeated, defending my belt in June or July against Umar Nurmagomedov in Las Vegas! I’m the champ! And still! Round 1, 3, and 5! You don’t believe me? Go rewatch it for yourself! I had Merab running like a b*tch in round 5! I’m the champ! Rewatch the fight. Title defense number 3 Umar, I’m coming for you!”

The former champ released a video on his YouTube showing himself, coach Tim Welch, and friends rewatching the UFC 306 main event. He scored round 1, 3 and 5 for himself and went onto say he’d ask the UFC to post the fight on YouTube for people to see.

Dvalishvili took it in stride and had some fun with it posting a skit of his own.

It’s hard to be a dad these days 👨🏻‍🍼🦾 pic.twitter.com/ZBhF1lo8am

— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) September 20, 2024

In the video Dvalishvili drove his SUV through a neighborhood coming to an abrupt stop and revealing a kid’s toy car with a plush toy of O’Malley holding a belt in the driver seat.

“What the f*ck bro?! What’s going on? Sean? It’s you my friend what’s wrong with you bro? Why you keep smoking my friend? I thought you were just sleeping now it’s asleep time for you bro. 

Listen son. Don’t worry about this Umar Nurmagomedov. I will take care of Umar. You’re not a champion anymore and I’m going to take belt from you again. So you drive safe son. 

Let’s go Sean. No more smoke. See you. Drive safe, ok?” 

The end of the video shows Merab Dvalishvili kissing the plush toy multiple times and then driving away.

The fight is over, but it’s safe to say the banter back and forth is just beginning.

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