Mexican fans were blessed with a fight night full of action at Arena CDMX, although that enjoyment would end when their fan-favourite suffered defeat in the main event.
There was a total of six finishes in the event which consisted of five KO/TKO wins and one submission, plus, a Fight of the Night bonus was awarded for a scrappy prelim battle.
Plenty of prospects made their name heard to put themselves on notice in their respective weight divisions, especially those that remained undefeated.
Here are all the results from UFC Mexico City, from the headliner to the preliminary card.
Englishman bounces back in spectacular fashion
Both main eventers were on the search for redemption after losing their most recent bouts by KO/TKO.
Brandon Moreno lost by second-round TKO to Tatsuro Taira at UFC 323, which cost him the chance to regain the 125-pound throne.
Lone’er Kavanagh was dropped from the flyweight rankings after a second-round knockout defeat to Charles Johnson at UFC Shanghai.
A victory would be beneficial for either man, especially for the 26-year-old who had the chance to boost the flyweight division and beat a former champion.
In the first round, it would be a close contest on the feet as ‘The Assassin Baby’ just managed to land more strikes, despite the Englishman landing powerful shots.
The second round was a huge scare for the Mexican crowd as Kavanagh came close to knocking out Moreno with multiple devastating punches.
For the remaining three rounds, the two-time UFC Flyweight Champion attempted to takedown the unranked 125-pound fighter but was unsuccessful as the Briton was posing too much of a threat on the feet.
Kavanagh was favoured by the judges after five rounds and triumphed by unanimous decision, rapidly rising up to #6 in the flyweight rankings and leaving Moreno in a concerning position after an unexpected loss.
Martinez makes it four losses in a row for Vera
In the co-main event, it was a veteran vs prospect striking battle as one tried to break a losing streak, while the other aimed to extend their positive streak.
Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera was on a three consecutive losses after being on the wrong end of a split decision loss against Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Vancouver.
David Martinez was aiming for 10 wins-in-a-row after beating Rob Font by unanimous decision to enter the bantamweight rankings in his second UFC bout.
It’s likely the rankings wouldn’t change much, regardless of who wins, but nonetheless, this would be a significant fight for both mixed martial artists.
Martinez started off the first round active, landing plenty of strikes, and once again, Vera took it slow in round one before eventually picking up the pace.
The 27-year-old prospect continued to land more punches as well as get a takedown on the Ecuadorian to increase his chances of a victory.
The gas tank of the Mexican started to run low, allowing Vera to take advantage of it, but he needed a finish to win the battle, which he could not pull off.
Martinez won by unanimous decision to stay in the bantamweight top 10 and continue his rich run of form. As for his opponent, Chito’s downfall continues, with only one win in his last six battles.
Other moments from UFC Mexico City
King Green pulled off an impressive performance in enemy territory as he stopped Daniel Zellhuber by second-round TKO.
Edgar Chairez went to the judges’ scorecards and did enough to earn back-to-back wins with a split decision against Felipe Bunes.
Imanol Rodriguez made his mark as a UFC debutant with a second-round TKO victory against Kevin Borjas, and he may be the next hottest prospect at flyweight.
Santiago Luna produced a convincing display to earn a comfortable unanimous decision win over Angel Pacheco, the first time the 21-year-old has gone the distance.
It only took 41 seconds for Ryan Gandra to shine on his UFC debut as he viciously stopped Jose Daniel Medina by TKO.
Ailin Perez extended her win streak to six, going the distance with Macy Chiasson to win by unanimous decision and keep her #7 spot in the women’s bantamweight rankings.
Cristian Quinonez easily got the better of Kris Moutinho throughout three rounds to bounce back and win by unanimous decision.
Javier Reyes made a marvellous one-round comeback to stop Douglas Silva de Andrade by first-round TKO on his UFC debut in what was a satisfying brawl.
Regina Tarin and Ernesta Kareckaite produced a slugfest for three rounds, which earned a Fight of the Night bonus, but Tarin prevailed with a unanimous decision win.
Francis Marshall redeemed himself and earned his fifth submission win as he made Erik Silva tap out with a Rear-Naked Choke in round one.
Damian Pinas maintained his 100% finish rate and secured a first-round TKO victory on his UFC debut against Wes Schultz.