Gregory Rodrigues will headline a UFC event for the first time in February against former title challenger Jared Cannonier.
The UFC Fight Night 251 event on Feb. 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas will host the middleweight main event. MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup with two sources with knowledge of the booking following a first report from MMA Mania. The people requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Rodrigues (16-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is on the best run of his UFC career as a winner of three straight fights. “Robocop” enters his first main event opportunity following stoppage wins of Denis Tiuliulin and Brad Tavares, which preceded a unanimous decision win vs. Christian Leroy Duncan.
Cannonier (17-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) will look to end a two-fight skid and start 2025 on a high note in his sixth consecutive main event. In 2024, Cannonier lost both of his fights: a fourth-round TKO loss vs. Nassourdine Imavov and a Fight of the Night unanimous decision loss vs. Caio Borralho. Prior to those setbacks, Cannonier was working his way back to another title shot with back-to-back wins over Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori.
With the addition, the current lineup on Feb. 15 includes:
- Jared Cannonier vs. Gregory Rodrigues
- Edson Barboza vs. Steve Garcia
- Carli Judice vs. Juliana Miller
- Jacob Malkoun vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Ismael Bonfim vs. Nazim Sadykhov
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
- Jose Delgado vs. Connor Matthews
- Billy Ray Goff vs. Nikolay Veretennikov
- Dylan Budka vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 251.
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