There are only a select number of hunters from Mexico who have touched UFC Gold.
The Headliner of UFC Mexico City this weekend, Brandon Moreno was the first in Mexican -born hunter who took a championship home and he was not the last. Two years after the victory of the flight weight of Moreno at DeVeson Figueiredo, more champions were crowned with Alexa Grasso and Yair Rodriguez (Interim).
Mexico had three ruling champions on one point in 2023.
While Moreno wrote history as the first Mexican-Born Jager who won a UFC title, his former champions such as Cain Velasquez and Tony Ferguson of Mexican descent, the two-time heavyweight champion Velasquez who shows his 'brown pride' with a tattoo in the eight-corner.
Regardless of whether they were born north or south of the border between the US-Mexico, Bloody Elbow arranges the top 5 Mexican UFC hunters of all time.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
5. Yair Rodriguez
Yair Rodriguez Vecht from Chihuahua, Mexico, Yair Rodriguez was a victory on the way of an undisputed champion.
'The winner of the Ultimate Fighter Latin America' started his UFC career strong at 8-1 (1 AD) before he fell in a competitive fight in a victory against Max Holloway.
Rodriguez eventually bounced back with two interruption victories over Brian Ortega and Josh Emmett and won the interim-Fedweight title the same night and then Alexander Volkanovski contained Islam Mahachev disputed the lightweight title.
The 5'11 ”Rodriguez was a long test for Volkanovski, but in the third round the striker was knocked down and stopped bumping at UFC 276.
Rodriguez has victories over Brian Ortega, Josh Emmett, the Korean zombie, Dan Hooker and BJ Penn. 'El Pantera' has nine performance bonuses in his 10 victories with Brandon Moreno for most victories as a Mexican born hunter.
4. Alexa Grasso
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Alexa Grasso is the first and only hunter to beat Valentina Shevchenko in the UFC Women's Flyweight Division.
Wissing Shevchenko in itself is difficult enough, just ask the former two -division champion Amanda Nunes, who both times went the distance with 'bullet'. But Alexa Grasso took off the apparently impossible at UFC 285 when she came face to face with Shevchenko, the current pound-for-pound queen.
In round 4 of their title fight, Grasso insured the back of Shevchenko after spinning. Grasso locked in a coded choke, as tight as she can squeeze until Shevchenko tapped, half of her face red with pressure.
Grasso got her hand lifted in the Rematch, but it was not a victory, but a split trek in a supercompetitive fight at NOCHE UFC. Shevchenko undoubtedly left in the trilogy and got Grasso in UFC 306 in September.
3. Brandon Moreno
You may be a bit surprised Brandon Moreno is not #1 on our list, given that he is the Mexican star in MMA. But at the age of 31 and no successful title defenses, we believe that there is still work to be done.
Make no mistake, Moreno has had a great career in the UFC. 'The Assassin Baby' has defeated Deiveson Figueiredo and Kai Kara-France (both twice) together with top candidates Amir Albazi, Brandon Royval and Jussier Formiga.
With a victory over Steve Erceg this weekend in the main event of UFC Mexico City, Brandon Moreno of Tijuana would enter the history books as the UFC hunter born in Mexican with the most victories (11).
Moreno has 3 losses (including exhibition) to the current champion Alexandre Pantoja, hoping to become a three -time champion for Mexico in a day.
2. Henry Cejudo
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Henry Cejudo is not really someone to represent the Mexican flag, after he has represented the US in the 2008 Olympic Games, but perhaps the heritage of the former champion is shown by the way he is fighting.
A TKO loss for Demetrious Johnson in his first title fight in 2015 did not prevent Cejudo from haunting UFC Gold, it only made him hungry.
Cejudo came back with a revenge in 2017 and went on a 6-fighter tear about the divisions of the flight weight and bantam weight. The former champion destroyed one of the greatest hunters of all time Demetrious Johnson in 2018, later on to defend the title against TJ Dillashaw in 32 seconds.
With bantam weight, Cejudo persisted in his fight against a dangerous Marlon Moraes, overcinging early adversity to becoming a simultaneous two -division champion. Cejudo covered with blood, retired on top after Tko'ing Dominick Cruz in 2020.
Cejudo challenged the then Champ Aljamain Sterling, the current champion Merab Dvalishvili and Top Contender Song Yadong in his not so successful return after a three -year resignation.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
1. Cain Velasquez
In the 2010 the worst man on the planet had Mexican roots.
A hunter from San Jose, California, Cain Velasquez defeated a fight of heavyweights from a murderer in his heyday. The performance of Velasquez includes the elimination of a Prime 265LB+ Brock Lesnar in the first round, repeated victories on Junior Dos Santos and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and much more.
Velasquez is still holding on to the longest heavyweight title line of all time after 896 days – something to see for Jon Jones, who could eventually break the record.
Velasquez went 12-3 in the UFC with his last fight in the hands of a powerful Francis Ngannou in 2019.
Win, lose or draw, not many hunters embody the Mexican fighting spirit such as Cain Velasquez.
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