UFC Fight Night Cannonier vs. Rodrigues 2/15/25

UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Rodrigues, live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 15, 2025. Prelims start at 4pm ET/1pm PT, while the main card kicks off live on ESPN+ at 7pm ET/4pm PT. Jared Cannonier (17-8) has lost his last two bouts albeit against quality opponents in Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho. He now faces another tough opponent as he desperately seeks to avoid losing three fights in a row for the first time in his career. Prior to those last two losses, Cannonier was on fire beating some top-notch opponents like Derek Brunson, Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori so he should not be too disheartened by this run. The TKO loss to Imavov has been put in more context since then also given Imavov’s stunning win over Adesanya two weeks ago. The big question around Cannonier is how much does the veteran have left in the tank especially against an up-and-coming fighter like Rodrigues.

Veteran Vince Morales looks to get things moving in the right direction again, while newcomer Elijah Smith makes his first trek into the Octagon in this intriguing bantamweight matchup on Saturday’s prelims. Morales earned a return call of the Octagon last September after posting five wins and four finishes on the regional circuit, but landed on the wrong side of the results in a clash with Taylor Lapilus in Paris. The 22-year-old Smith impressed with is grit and moxie in his win over City Kickboxing man Aaron Tau last season on Dana White’s Contender Series, and will look to extend his winning streak to six as he makes his promotional debut this weekend in Las Vegas.

Heavyweights hit the cage in the second fight of the night this weekend, as Valter Walker looks to build on his first UFC win and Don’Tale Mayes aims to get back in the win column once more. After dropping his debut to Lukasz Brzeski in April, Walker secured his first victory inside the Octagon in August, earning a first-round verbal submission finish of Junior Tafa at UFC 305 after lacing up a heel hook in the waning seconds of the opening frame. Now 10 fights into his UFC tenure, Mayes has alternated losses and wins over his last five fights, and hopes to maintain that pattern after landing on the wrong side of the cards against Shamil Gaziev last time out. Julia Avila and Jacqueline Cavalcanti square off in a compelling bantamweight clash that opens the show on Saturday in Las Vegas. Stationed at No. 12 in the divisional ranks, Avila returns for the first time since suffering a submission loss to Miesha Tate at the end of 2023, aiming to secure her first victory since finishing Julija Stoliarenko in the summer of 2021. Cavalcanti, who touches down at the APEX positioned one spot behind her opponent in the rankings, has gone 3-0 to start her UFC tenure, extending her overall winning streak to six while establishing herself as an intriguing name to track in the 135-pound weight class.