UFC Fight Night 158 - Cerrone vs. Gaethje --- UFC Fight Night 160 - Hermansson vs. Cannonier
UFC Fight Night 159: Rodríguez vs. Stephens is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship to take place on September 21, 2019 at Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Mexico.
Fight Card
Main Card (ESPN+)
Featherweight Yair Rodríguez vs. Jeremy Stephens
Women's Strawweight Carla Esparza vs. Alexa Grasso
Flyweight Brandon Moreno vs. Askar Askarov
Women's Bantamweight Irene Aldana vs. Vanessa Melo
Featherweight Martin Bravo vs. Steven Peterson
Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
Bantamweight José Alberto Quiñónez vs. Carlos Huachin
Featherweight Polo Reyes vs. Kyle Nelson
Women's Strawweight Ariane Carnelossi vs. Angela Hill
Flyweight Sergio Pettis vs. Tyson Nam
Light Heavyweight Vinicius Moreira vs. Paul Craig
Women's Bantamweight Sijara Eubanks vs. Bethe Correia
Lightweight Claudio Puelles vs. Marcos Rosa Mariano
Background
While not officially announced by the organization, the promotion was initially targeting a featherweight bout between former title challengers Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung to serve as the event headliner. However, promotion officials elected to go in another direction and a featherweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight winner Yair Rodríguez and Jeremy Stephens has been slated as the main event.
A women's strawweight bout between Istela Nunes and Angela Hill was scheduled for the event. However, on August 12, 2019, it was reported that Nunes was removed from the card due to a failed drug test. She was replaced by Ariane Carnelossi.
Alex Perez was scheduled to face Sergio Pettis at the event. However, Perez pulled out of the bout on August 26 citing an injury, and he was replaced by Tyson Nam.
Marion Reneau was scheduled to face Irene Aldana at the event. However, Reneau pulled out of the bout on September 11 for undisclosed reasons. She was replaced by promotional newcomer Vanessa Melo.
