After a thrilling finish to UFC’s annual tour of Australia for UFC 312, the promotion now returns home to the Apex for another Fight Night. Titled UFC Vegas 102, the event promises a blockbuster of events. The main event features the hard-hitting Jared Cannonier aiming to return to the win column against Gregory Rodrigues.
So, without further ado, let’s dive in.
Cannonier vs Rodrigues
Having been a former middleweight title challenger, Cannonier will look to avoid the first three-fight skid of his professional MMA career. It’s been an interesting journey for Cannonier, who started his journey in the promotion as a heavyweight. But after a couple of fights, decided 205 lbs would be a better fit.
Unfortunately, in the 5 fights he had in the division, Cannonier could only win 2 and thus dropped another 20 pounds to move down to middleweight.
It went great for him at 185 lbs in the beginning. He managed to win 4 of his first 5 fights, which led to a title fight against Israel Adesanya. Cannonier took the fight to the champion and went all 5 rounds but ultimately lost the fight via a unanimous decision.
Despite the loss, he looked to be picking up steam with a couple of wins against Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori. But then, Nassourdine Imavov found his chin with utter perfection at a UFC Fight Night in June 2024.
Cannonier would make a quick return to the octagon against Caio Borralho but succumb to a unanimous decision loss.
His next opponent Gregory Rodrigues, on the other hand, riding high with 3 wins in his last 3 fights. Currently unranked, Rodrigues hopes that a win over Cannonier will help him secure a place in the top 15 at middleweight.
A former Dana White Contender Series participant, Rodrigues had a promising start to his UFC career and won his first two fights against Dusko Todorovich and JunYong Park with great conviction. However, he lost to Armen Petrosyan in his third fight by split decision. Since then he has gone on to win 5 of his 6 fights and will hope to add Cannonier to the list.
So, there’s a lot at stake here. But it’s not the only fight on the card.
UFC Vegas 102: Main Card
Jared Cannonier vs. Gregory Rodrigues
Calvin Kattar vs. Youssef Zalal
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Dylan Budka
Ismael Bonfim vs. Nazim Sadykhov
Rodolfo Vieira vs. Andre Petroski
Connor Matthews vs. Jose Delgado
UFC Vegas 102: Preliminary Card
Angela Hill vs. Ketlen Souza
Jared Gordon vs. Kauê Fernandes
Gabriel Bonfim vs. Khaos Williams
Vince Morales vs. Elijah Smith
Valter Walker vs. Don’Tale Mayes
Julia Avila vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
UFC Vegas 102: Date and Location & Where to Stream
UFC Vegas 102 takes place on 15 February 2025 at the UFC Apex, in Las Vegas. The prelims are reported to start at 4 PM ET, while the main card will begin 3 hours later at 7 PM ET. Viewers can stream the event with an ESPN+ subscription.
So, do tune in. And keep a tab on this space for more.
