Grading Noche UFC: First Mexican Independence Day event a home run with few hiccups

Noche UFC is here to say. The fight card celebrating Mexican Independence will now be an annual event, according to UFC CEO Dana White.

In the main event of this past Saturday’s card, Mexico’s Alexa Grasso retained her UFC women’s flyweight title after fighting former champion Valentina Shevchenko to a split draw in a rematch that was one of the best female title fights in UFC history.

Many other Mexican and Mexican-American talents shinned that night, as Raul Rosas Jr. bounced back from his first defeat, Tracy Cortez made a successful return after a year-plus layoff, and highly touted prospects Loopy Godinez and Daniel Zellhuber impressed many with their submission wins.

I was present all week long to cover the historical event. And with the inaugural Noche UFC event now in the books, I’m taking some time to reflect on the execution of celebrating Mexican Independence Day with a themed card.

Below is the good and the bad from fight week, along with an overall grade of Noche UFC:

The Good

Sep 16, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Alexa Grasso (red gloves) and Valentina Shevchenko (blue gloves) react after the fight during UFC Fight Night at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

UFC gold: Noche UFC might’ve felt like a pay-per-view in the end, but it was a Fight Night. Part of that was mainly due to the championship rematch between Grasso and Shevchenko in the main event, which turned out to be excellent from start to finish.

Usually, at least in this latest era of the promotion, championship fights are reserved for pay-per-view events given their importance and pull from the fan base. However, Noche UFC was given a championship fight, and more importantly, the championship fight.

Grasso is the only Mexican champion left in the UFC after Brandon Moreno lost his undisputed flyweight belt and Yair Rodriguez his interim featherweight title in July. Also, Irene Aldana missed the opportunity to add another belt to Mexico in her lopsided loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 289 in June. Grasso’s first title defense was the fight to give Noche UFC.

Sep 16, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Daniel Zellhuber (red gloves) prepares to fight Christos Giagos (not pictured) during UFC Fight Night at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Mexican presence: Grasso vs. Shevchenko was definitely the biggest piece of the puzzle. However, there needed to be more. Along with Grasso, fans got to see Mexico’s Zellhuber, Godinez, Edgar Chairez, Fernando Padilla, and Mexican-Americans Rosas, Godinez, Cortez, and Alex Reyes.

Eight out of the 11 fights involved Mexico-born fighters or fighters of Mexican descent. On a card built around Mexican Independence Day, it’s obviously crucial to showcase Mexican talent beyond the main event. UFC made sure of that.

The feel: The UFC is always the UFC – for better or worse. The promotion has done a perfect job at being consistent with their branding regardless of who is fighting, and where and when is the event. Although this has created a strong brand for the promotion, it’s also sometimes left fans wanting some fun and creativity.

Noche UFC stood out more than any event in recent memory from a product standpoint. The promotion went above and beyond to make it different, while also keeping their branding. The UFC had an entire new design on its broadcast, reflecting Mexican culture. The graphics and the music, it was all there. They would also show highlights of the Spanish-language broadcast, and they had Mexican star Brandon Moreno come in as a guest color commentator.

And in person there was also work done. The UFC debuted exclusive jerseys to celebrate Mexican Independence, which were seen plenty in the arena. The DJ at the venue played mainly Mexican music with Hispanic hits. And throughout the fight week, there were other things, as well. The UFC had a Q&A panel with Moreno, Marlon Vera and Tatiana Suarez, which was moderated by Spanish-language UFC play-by-play commentator Victor Davila in both English and Spanish. They also had a mariachi band open up the ceremonial weigh-ins.

The Bad

Some big names missing: This one is tough to judge because it’s mainly outside the UFC’s control, sort of. Yes, there were a good amount of Mexican and Mexican-American fighters on the card, but several important names were not present.

Moreno, Rodriguez and Aldana are the biggest names to come out of Mexico, along with Grasso. Moreno and Rodriguez had tough title losses in July, making a September return unlikely, and Aldana is recovering from a foot surgery.

Also, top prospect Yazmin Jauregui recently had surgery. Kelvin Gastelum, who was originally scheduled to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov on the card, suffered an injury and had to pull out. Mexican-American Brian Ortega has also been on the sidelines recovering from injury.

But even though some names weren’t available, others were, at least not booked, that haven’t recently fought and that are uninjured, at least that we know of. Those names include Gabriel Benitez, Jesus Aguilar, Manuel Torres, Cristian Quiñonez, and Melissa Martinez among others.

The UFC had plenty of names to bolster the Mexican power of Noche UFC. A lot of it was out of their control, and some of it was. Either way, the card could have been stronger with the addition of a few Mexican names.

Location: This event was celebrating Mexican Independence, yet it was done on U.S. soil. Well, technically Las Vegas was part of Mexico for a couple of decades after its independence, but that’s a different story.

Either way, this event would’ve best been served in Mexico. After all, it’s celebrating a Mexican holiday. Now, Las Vegas is not a bad Plan B, and that’s where UFC gets a bit of a pass. It’s tradition to see Mexicans, and especially Mexican-Americans, travel to Las Vegas to celebrate Sept. 16. There are many Mexican entertainment shows for those dates. In fact, Noche UFC was sandwiched by Mexican superstar musician Antonio Silis and legendary Mexican band Maná the day before and after at the T-Mobile Arena.

Again, Las Vegas is not a bad home for Noche UFC, but Mexico is the ideal landing spot.

Joe Martinez

The ‘Official Voice of the Octagon’: I want to be very clear that this is NOT a Bruce Buffer hate section. Buffer is great, and there’s no announcer more synonymous with the UFC than him. Whenever you see Buffer and his flamboyant suits, you know it’s an important night for the promotion.

However, the man built for this job is Joe Martinez, who was the announcer for WEC and has been announcing UFC events since 2007. He also does a lot of boxing, most famously he announced Canelo vs. GGG in 2018 – one of the biggest fights in recent years.

Martinez is terrific at his job. He’s one of the best announcers out there, and certainly among those of Hispanic heritage. As a Mexican-American, Martinez does a great job pronouncing Hispanic names and adding that extra flavor to the cards. Martinez was a no-brainer for this one and was terribly missed.

Overall grade

Noche UFC gets a 9 out of 10. You can definitely nitpick, but overall it was a success, and the numbers are there to back it.

It was a great gesture for the UFC to finally recognize and further cater to its Mexican audience by celebrating the biggest holiday in the country. Mexico has grown its presence tremendously in the UFC, especially in 2023, and Noche UFC was a landmark event for the growth of Mexican MMA.

What was once exclusive to boxing is now being seen in MMA. The Mexican fighting culture is here to stay in the UFC.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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