Live coverage of February’s final event begins in the late afternoon of the last day of the month with the undercard at 5:00 PM ET/ 2:00 PM PT on Paramount Plus. The main card action concludes the evening at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. If no adjustments need to be made to the card between now and the weekend, 13 fights will take place on Saturday night.
This is just part of a long line of cards on the 2026 UFC schedule. Including UFC Mexico next Saturday night, the UFC will be live with a card every Saturday between now and the weekend of April 18, pending further additions to the calendar.
UFC Mexico Featured Preliminary: Ryan Gandra vs. Jose Daniel Medina
To top off the undercard, you’ll be treated to a middleweight showdown as Ryan Gandra (8-1 MMA, UFC promotional debut) makes his first walk into the legendary Octagon to fight Jose Daniel Medina (11-6 MMA, 0-3 UFC). All fights mentioned herein are an advertised maximum of three rounds of five minutes per round.
Gandra makes his first appearance under the UFC promotional banner this Saturday night after posting a 5-0 record in his last five fights. He is on a seven-fight winning streak dating back to November 2022.
The last time he was gone secured his UFC contract thanks to a first-round knockout (punches) against Trent Miller (9-3 MMA) during the August 26 broadcast Contender series by Dana White on ESPN+, the UFC’s former streaming platform. At its core, this is a battle between two competitors going in opposite directions.
Ryan Gandra has skyrocketed over the past three years. His opponent, on the other hand, takes a different path. On the other side, Jose Daniel Medina enters UFC Mexico with a mark of 1-4 in his last five appearances.
On September 13, he was on the receiving end of a first-round submission (rear-naked choke) of Dusko Todorovic (13-6 MMA, 4-6 UFC). Although both Medina and his 2023 Contender series opponent, Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, won contracts thanks to his performance on the show, the former has yet to win since joining the UFC.
A win in the preliminary round of UFC Mexico could be enough for the promotion to keep Jose Daniel Medina on the roster, but will he ultimately be able to stop Gandra’s streak? Tune in and find out.
UFC Mexico Co-Featured Prelim: No. 7 contender Allin Perez vs. No. 8 contender Macy Chiasson
Immediately before that, the women’s bantamweights enter the cage as No. 7 contender Allin Perez (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) collides with No. 8 contender Macy Chiasson (10-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC). Perez enters the weekend undefeated at 5-0 in her last five trips to the Octagon.
She hasn’t fought in over 13 months. On January 18, 2025, she defeated Karol Rosa (19-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) by unanimous decision at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA at UFC 311 after 15 minutes of action on the evening’s undercard.
The stakes will be high for both Perez and Chiasson at UFC Mexico this Saturday. Can Perez increase her winning streak to six after more than a year of absence?
Meanwhile, Macy Chiasson has gone 2-3 in her past five matches. The No. 8 contender at 135 has been a streaky fighter lately, dropping two straight fights.
Most recently, she found herself on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Yana Santos (17-8, 1 NC MMA, 7-5 UFC) in October. Even worse, Chiasson exceeded the non-title maximum of 136 pounds at the official weigh-ins the morning before the bout, something Allin Perez took note of ahead of UFC Mexico. vowing not to compete against Chiasson if she loses weight on the scales next Friday.
“I’ve seen her and she looks like she might not gain weight,” Perez said. “If she doesn’t gain weight, I won’t fight.”
Whether or not this bout happens remains to be seen, but the Perez camp has done quite a bit of work putting out message board material ahead of the fight at UFC Mexico.
UFC Mexico: Cristian Quinonez vs. Kris Moutinho
Bantamweight action also takes place on Saturday night’s undercard when Cristian Quinonez (18-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) takes on Kris Mouthino (14-7 MMA, 0-3 UFC). This is the latter’s second fight in his second stint in the UFC. Quinonez will walk the walk on the strength of a 3-2 record in his last five meetings.
Two years ago this week, he suffered a third-round submission loss due to a rear naked choke against Raoni Barcelos (21-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Mexico City. Quinonez was set to make his UFC return on the night of November 8 at the now-Meta Apex against Adrian Yanez before the fight was postponed after the former withdrew due to visa issues.
He has been away from competition for just over two years. How much ring rust does it have?
In the other corner, Moutinho enters UFC Mexico having posted a 4-1 mark in his last five fights. His UFC return last June ended on a sour note when Malcolm Wellmaker (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) finished him via right hook in the opening round.
Moutinho has turned it around since his first UFC stint ended. Will he take advantage of Quinonez after his lengthy layoff? Only time will tell.
Rest of the preliminaries:
The preliminary rounds of UFC Mexico conclude with these fights:
- A featherweight bout between Douglas Silva de Andrade (29-6, 1 NC MMA, 7-6 UFC) and Javier Reyes (22-5 MMA, UFC promotional debut)
- a catchweight bout (130 lbs) matching Regina Tarin (7-0 MMA, UFC promotional debut) with Ernesta Kareckaite (6-1-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC)
- a featherweight fight with Erik Silva (9-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) against Francis Marshall (8-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC)
- and a middleweight affair with Damian Pinas (8-1 MMA, UFC promotional debut) and Wes Schultz (8-2 MMA, UFC promotional debut).
Which preliminaries are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.
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