Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez will clash in a five-round main event at the upcoming UFC on ABC 3 card scheduled for July 16 from the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, N.Y.
The main card will air on ABC starting at 3 p.m. ET, with prelims airing simultaneously on ESPN. These fights will start at 12. ET.
Ortega and Rodriguez will meet in a key featherweight matchup as both fighters look to bounce back from recent losses.
Ortega failed to win his second attempt to be champion at 145 pounds after losing to Alexander Volkanovski, while Rodriguez lost to Max Holloway during a back and forth war in November.
With Volkanovski and Holloway also scheduled to meet in July, the winner of the fight between Ortega and Rodriguez could jump right back into title contention in the division.
Askar Askarov, a flyweight competitor will be back in action July 16 when he takes on Alex Perez. This is a fight between top fighters at 125 pound. Askarov tasted defeat for the first time in his career in a decision loss to Kai Kara-France in March with Perez also seeking to get back in the win column after falling to flyweight king Deiveson Figueiredo back in November 2020.
The card will feature Jack Shore and Ricky Simon as bantamweights in a matchup which could possibly propel the winner to the top 10 of the division.
Popular strawweight competitor Michelle Waterson will also return to action as she faces Amanda Lemos in a battle at 115 pounds.
Here’s the card for UFC on ABC: Ortega vs. Rodriguez as it stands currently. It is yet to be decided what the order of fights will be on this card.
MAIN EVENT: Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez
Askar Askarov vs. Alex Perez
Ricky Simon vs. Jack Shore
Michelle Waterson vs. Amanda Lemos
Bill Algeo
vs. Billy Quarantillo
Li Jingliang vs. Muslim Salikhov
Matt Schnell vs. Sumudaerji
Dwight Grant Vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Herbert Burns vs. Khusein Askhabov
Punahele Soriano vs. Daicha Lungiambula
Dustin Jacoby vs. Da-un Jung
