A light heavyweight fight is in the works for this September.
At the UFC Fight Night event Sept. 18, Cameroon’s Tafon Nchukwi is targeted to meet New England’s Mike Rodriguez, pending bout finalization. The card doesn’t currently have a publicly known location or venue.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently confirmed the targeted booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Nchukwi (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) lost for the first time as a professional when he was defeated by Jun Yong Park by unanimous decision in May. The fight was Nchukwi’s sophomore promotional appearance after a successful debut bid against Jamie Pickett.
Rodriguez (11-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) enters the event after back-to-back losses. The first of the two, however, was controversial. When Rodriguez kneed Ed Herman in the chest, referee Chris Tognoni deemed it illegal and a timeout was called rather than a stoppage. After the fight restarted, Herman finished Rodriguez bu submission.
In his most recent outing, which took place in January, Rodriguez was submitted by Danilo Marques.
With the addition, the Sept. 18 lineup includes:
- Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann
- Dakota Bush vs. Zhu Rong
- Danaa Batgerel vs. Montel Jackson
- Sarah Alpar vs. Erin Blanchfield
- Tafon Nchukwi vs. Mike Rodriguez
