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SportsMoney UFC Announces Six Bouts For 2026 Noche UFC Fight Card By Trent Reinsmith ,
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Trent Reinsmith is a Baltimore-based writer who covers MMA and hockey. Follow Author Jul 28, 2026, 05:32pm EDT Jul 28, 2026, 05:32pm EDT --:-- / --:-- This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . Summary Noche UFC 2026 is scheduled for September 12 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, celebrating Mexican Independence Day with an early start to avoid a conflicting boxing event. Six official fights have been announced, though the main event remains unconfirmed. A highlight is the women's flyweight clash between No. 3 ranked Alexa Grasso and No. 2 ranked Manon Fiorot. Grasso, a former champion who famously submitted Valentina Shevchenko in 2023, recently secured a knockout win after losing her title. Fiorot, with only one UFC defeat—a 2025 title challenge against Shevchenko—rebounded with a TKO victory last October. This event is the first of seven TKO promotions in Arizona over three years. The main card streams on Paramount+ starting at 5 PM ET.
This year’s edition of Noche UFC takes place on September 12 from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The annual event celebrating Mexican Independence Day has an early start time so as not to interfere with the boxing card headlined by Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn that takes place later that evening in Las Vegas.
Last year’s Noche UFC card took place at Sphere in Las Vegas and was headlined by a featherweight bout between Diego Lopes and Jean Silva. Lopes won that contest by second-round TKO.
While the promotion has not yet confirmed the main event for this year’s Noche UFC, it has announced six official fights for the event, which is the first of seven TKO events in the state over the next three years.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Curtis Blaydes Manon Fiorot vs. Alexa Grasso Brandon Moreno vs. Joseph Morales Tim Elliott vs. Édgar Cháirez Kelvin Gastelum vs. Yousri Belgaroui JJ Aldrich vs. Regina Tarin
Alexa Grasso (16-4-1) was a perfect 8-0 when she signed with the UFC in August 2016. She debuted with a win over Heather Jo Clark in November of that year. However, she struggled after that, going 2-3 in her next five fights. Grasso beat Randa Markos and Karolina Kowalkiewicz over that two-year stretch while falling to Felice Herrig, Tatiana Suarez, and Carla Esparza. Grasso’s first six UFC fights all took place at strawweight.
In 2020, Grasso made the move to flyweight, and it paid off. Four wins between August 2020 and October 2022 put her inside the top six of the 125-pound division and earned her a shot at then-champion Valentina Shevchenko in March 2023.
In a surprising upset on the UFC 285 card, Grasso submitted Shevchenko to claim the title and hand Shevchenko her first defeat since she lost to Amanda Nunes in a bantamweight title fight in March 20216.
In a September 2023 rematch with Shevchenko, Grasso retained her belt in a fighter that was ruled a split draw. Grasso’s run with the belt ended at UFC 306 in September 2024 when Shevchenko earned a unanimous decision win.
Grasso dropped her next fight as well, losing a decision to Natalia Silva by decision at UFC 315 in May 2025.
The former champ got back in the win column in her most recent outing, knocking out Maycee Barber in March.
Grasso is the No. 3 ranked fighter in the official UFC women’s flyweight rankings .
Manon Fiorot (13-2) has one UFC defeat on her record, a May 2025 title fight setback to UFC flyweight champion Shevchenko. The 36-year-old is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the official UFC women’s 125-pound rankings.
Fiorot, a former UAE Warrior’s flyweight champ, joined the UFC in 2021. In her first fight with the promotion, Fiorot defeated Victoria Leonardo via knockout. Since then, she has steadily climbed the rankings.
Leading up to her title shot, Fiorot defeated former UFC champion Rose Namajunas and rising Erin Blanchfield, who was on a nine-fight winning streak heading into their UFC Fight Night main event in March 2024. Her loss to Shevchenko was a 48-47 x 3 decision on the scorecards.
Fiorot bounced back from that setback with an October 2025 TKO victory over Jasmine Jasudavicius.
Noche UFC 2026 has a start time of 5:00 p.m ET for the main card. The prelims begin at 2:00 p.m. ET. The entire card streams on Paramount+.
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