At Noche UFC, fighters McMillen, Grasso stand out as fan favorites
UFC’s annual celebration of Latino heritage and Mexican Independence Day was just that on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
The fans came to celebrate, cheer and support Mexican mixed martial arts fighters, and they packed the building and the area outside the arena despite a late morning start to the 13-bout Noche UFC.
By the time the main card was well underway, almost all of the available seats inside the former home of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes were full and the fans were loudest for a pair of fighters, Alexa Grasso of Mexico and American Tommy McMillen.
They also were surprised when boxer Ryan Garcia, fighting later for the WBC welterweight title on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas, was shown on the in-arena big screen walking into T-Mobile Arena for his main event bout there.
Brandon Moreno, who won the UFC flyweight title at Desert Diamond Arena at UFC 263 in 2021 to become the first Mexican-born UFC champion, walked to the octagon to a song about him in his first, and long-awaited, Noche UFC appearance. But the Tijuana native’s fight against Joseph Morales right before the main event didn’t get much of a crowd reaction.
Moreno didn’t have a first round worth remembering, then was accidentally kicked in the private area by Morales in the second, and he lost his balance several times on attempted kicks.
But Moreno earned a split-decision win.
“The most important thing was I repeated the result that I got here before,” Moreno said in Spanish. “My mind was where it should have been.
“I feel like I should have thrown a few more punches.”
He then thanked the fans for their support, though they weren’t as loud for him as they were five years ago.
Grasso floored opponent and UFC No. 2-ranked flyweight contender Manon Fiorot with a punch late in the first round, and the crowd rose to its feet and roared. The No. 3 flyweight contender was bleeding from her right eye by the end of the fight, but she made it to the end of the three-round fight.
Grasso tapped her heart as she looked out on the crowd, then was announced as the unanimous decision winner.
“Viva Mexico!” she shouted. “My boxing is my signature.”
The day didn’t go so well for fighters whose training base is the Phoenix area, but that wasn’t the case for McMillen, a featherweight fighting out of Peoria. His fight was the most entertaining of the day.
McMillen, after walking to the octagon in dark sunglasses to Motley Crue’s “Girls Girls Girls, ” opened a cut under Morocco native Marwan Rahiki’s right eye in the first round. But Rahiki staggered McMillen with some punches to his face in the second round.
McMillen finished the round with a rally of his own, and the two exchanged words after the end of the round. When the final round began, the crowd was on its feet roaring with delight.
Tommy McMillen & Rage Against the Machine. #NocheUFCpic.twitter.com/OzQOSBeMI3
— José M. Romero (@RomeroJoseM) September 12, 2026
McMillen was the better fighter in the third round, and the crowd stood the entire round. The exhausted fighters made to the end of the fight and McMillen, with UFC star Sean O’Malley offering guidance in his corner, was awarded the unanimous decision.
Jose Miguel Delgado, born in Yuma and training out of the well known MMA lab in Phoenix, got his shot at co-headlining a main event, facing No. 6 featherweight contender Jean Silva. Delgado replaced injured former champion Yair Rodriguez, announced last month.
With MMA legend Benson Henderson in his corner, Delgado stung Silva with a left hook in the first round and had Silva checking his face for blood. Delgado also landed a right jab.
But Silva overcame that and forced a submission via chokehold in the third round to end the fight and Noche UFC, taking place in the Phoenix area for the first time as part of a seven-event deal struck between TKO Group Holdings, UFC’s parent company, and the Arizona Sports & Events Alliance.
JEAN SILVA GETS THE CHOKE!!
📺 @paramountpluspic.twitter.com/2VAPtWrpb5
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) September 13, 2026
Waldo Cortes Acosta, a former Cincinnati Reds minor league pitcher, lumbered through an action-less heavyweight fight even though he was the fifth-ranked heavyweight contender in UFC, and opponent Curtis Blaydes was No. 6. The crowd booed both fighters, especially late in the fight, waiting for something to happen.
Blaydes looked out at the crowd and shrugged his shoulders when the fight ended and he earned the decision.
Drakkar Klose, a lightweight fighting out of Phoenix, came up short in the fourth fight of the prelim bouts.
The crowd booed and even jeered Klose and opponent Tommy Gantt, as their fight started slowly and evolved into grappling along the chain link fence surrounding the octagon. But Gantt executed a reverse triangle in the third round and forced a submission for the win.
The knockout of the day belonged to Sean King III, who lifted opponent Jessie Rosas off the mat in the first round of their prelims bout and spiked him headfirst. The impact left Rosas temporarily unconscious, the fight ending immediately.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: At Noche UFC, fighters McMillen, Grasso stand out as fan favorites