Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back stateside as Noche UFC 3 goes down later TONIGHT (Sat., Sept. 13, 2025) in San Antonio, Texas on ESPN+. Headlining the event will be a Featherweight fight between Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva. In the co-main event, Rob Font will face off against David Martinez (not Raul Rosas Jr.) in a Bantamweight fight.
What’s Hot:
UFC NOCHE 3 CHEAT SHEET
What UFC event is on tonight? Noche UFC 3: “Lopes vs. Silva”
What time does Noche UFC 3 start? TONIGHT (Sat., Sept. 13, 2025), beginning at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Where will Noche UFC 3 take place? Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
How can I watch Noche UFC 3? ESPN+ “Prelims” undercard matches are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET.
How do I bet on Noche UFC 3? Checkout the latest lines at DraftKings.com
Where can I get Noche UFC 3 updates and results? Get full Noche UFC 3 play-by-play updates and live coverage at www.MMAmania.com right here.
Lopes came up short in his bid to win his first-ever UFC Featherweight title after losing to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314 earlier this year (results here), and now the Mexican-born fighter is hoping to land another chance at taking down “The Great.” The loss snapped Lopes’ five-fight win streak, forcing him to go back to the lab to right his wrongs and fix his issues. The scrappy combatant has an aggressive and exciting style, but he just may have met his match in Silva, who is one of the most exciting fighters on UFC’s roster.
Silva is currently on a 13-fight win streak, which includes going undefeated (5-0) inside the Octagon, winning all of his UFC fights via stoppage while earning three “Performance of the Night” awards, in the process. Silva is as exciting as they come, and his knack for finishing his foes is proof of that. Paring Lopes vs. Silva was a genius move by matchmakers because both of these men will get after it with violent intentions, which equates to entertainment for everyone tuning in. The winner could very well get a title shot, as long as they top what Lerone Murphy did to Aaron Pico a few weeks back. Silva will be hunting for a win for various reasons, such as to try and stop the bleeding of the Fighting Nerds fight camp after Caio Borralho and Mauricio Ruffy suffered losses last week in Paris.
What’s Not:
Tatiana Suarez is currently ranked N0. 2 in the women’s Strawweight division, but after only one loss, matchmakers decided to send her down the “Prelims” undercard. And did I mention that the loss was to Zhang Weili in a title fight? Why her fight against Amanda Lemos — who is seeded No. 4 in the division — is on the undercard as opposed to taking a man slot card is beyond me. Instead, we have a newcomer in Santiago Luna taking on Quang Le.
Original Card Vs. Actual Card:
The original co-main event was set to feature Rosas Jr. taking on Font before “El Nino Problema” pulled out of the fight with a rib injury. As a result, David Martinez stepped in to fill the void. Martinez is perfect (1-0) inside the Octagon after winning his debut fight against Saimon Oliveira earlier this year. Martinez is also currently on an eight-fight win streak, which includes six finishes. As for Font, he is on a two-fight win streak and was last seen defeating Jean Matsumoto via split decision earlier this year.
Aside from Rosas’ injury, Edgar Chairez was expected to face Alessandro Costa in a Flyweight bout before he was forced out with a broken leg. He was replaced by Alden Coria, who will be making his UFC debut. Raquel Pennington was set to face Norma Dumont on this card before she withdrew with an undisclosed injury and the fight was scratched altogether.
New Blood:
Coria got the call up to the big leagues after Edgar Chairez suffered a broken leg. Coria has been spending his time fighting for LFA and FURY FC over the course of his six-year mixed martial arts (MMA) career, and he now has the chance to impress on the biggest stage of them all. Also, the aforementioned Luna is taking on Le in his promotional debut bout. Luna made his professional debut in 2023, racking up a mint record (6-0), earning five submissions and one knockout along the way. “Border Boy” has a nice challenge in Le, who scored his first UFC win over Gaston Bolanos earlier this year after starting off winless (0-2).
Also, Daniil Donchenko vs. Rodrigo Sezinando will be making their promotional Welterweight debuts against each other. Sezinando is on a four-fight win streak and has an overall record of 8-1. Donchenko is also on a four-fight win streak and is 11-2 as a professional. In addition, 19-year old Alice Pereira will make her first appearance inside the Octagon against Montserrat Rendon. Pereira is perfect thus far (6-0) with five knockouts and one submission on her record. She is now the youngest female fighter ever to fight inside the UFC’s cage, but she will have a tough challenge in Rendon, who is coming off he first and only loss of her career at the hands of Darya Zheleznyakova.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
Alexander Hernandez has really found his groove as of late, winning his last three fights after going through a tough two-fight skid. “The Great” will next take on Diego Ferreira, who is coming off a tough loss to Grant Dawson. The defeat brings him to 2-4 in his last six fights, so he needs a win pretty badly here to avoid getting his pink slip.
Jesus Aguilar and Luis Gurule are coming off losses to Rafael Estevam and Ode Osbourne, respectively, and now the Mexican-born combatants are looking to return to the win column. The unfortunate thing is one of them will go down 0-2, putting them in danger of getting cut.
Despite recently being jailed, Sedriques Dumas is still fighting under UFC’s banner, going up against Zachary Reese. Dumas was arrested on multiple charges, including a home invasion robbery without a firearm, misdemeanor battery and felony possession of a weapon by a convicted felon (more details here). Now, Dumas — who was last seen losing to Michal Oleksiejczuk — will attempt to notch his first win in more than one year when he goes up against Reese, who is coming off a win over Dusko Todorovic.
Claudio Puelles kicked off his UFC career with a record of 5-1, but has since lost two in a row to Dan Hooker and Fares Ziam. He is in a must-win situation as he faces off against Joaquim Silva because a third straight losses could earn him his walking papers.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Jose Medina vs. Dusko Todorovic will throw down in a Middleweight bout that will likely be a “Loser Leaves Town” match. That’s because Medina has lost his first three fights under UFC’s banner, while Todorovic is also winless (0-3) in his last three outings, and is a dreadful 3-6 during his time with the promotion. I just don’t see how matchmakers will justify keeping the loser on the roster.
FEATHERWEIGHT FRENZY! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads to Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Sat., Sept. 13, 2025, for Noche UFC 3, celebrating Mexican Independence Day with a stacked fight card. In the main event, former Featherweight title challenger, Diego Lopes, faces dynamic striker, Jean Silva, in a heated cultural rivalry scheduled for five, five-minute rounds. In Noche UFC 3’s co-headliner, Bantamweight veteran, Rob Font, takes on rising Mexican star, David Martinez, both vying for a pivotal win in the 135-pound division. All that and SO MUCH MORE!
Interest Level: 5.5/10
Kelvin Gastelum will forever be known as the fighter who couldn’t reach his full potential because he can never get out of his own way. His woes continued during the weight ins after he came in came in heavy by five pounds for his Middleweight fight against Dustin Stoltzfus. That’s after he moved up from Welterweight to avoid further scale fails.
His weight woes are only a fraction of his troubles because he is just 2-7 in his last nine fights, so I wouldn’t put it past UFC execs to finally cut ties with him should he lose. Stoltzfus — who will be taking home 35 percent of Gastelum’s purse — could use a win himself because he hasn’t exactly been lighting it up either, amassing a dreadful 3-6 record under UFC’s banner.
Jared Gordon vs. Rafa Garcia will tango in a 155-pound fight between two fighters in search of back-to-back wins for the first time in a long time. Gordon is coming off a first round knockout win over Thiago Moises, so he is coming in with plenty of momentum. Garcia, meanwhile, was last seen defeating Vinc Pichel, bringing him to 3-1 in his last four fights under UFC’s banner.
All in all, Noche UFC 3 is a decent card, but nothing to get overly-excited about, especially since everyone is focusing on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford mega-fight, which is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, and being promoted — ironically enough — by UFC’s CEO, Dana White.
Nevertheless, enjoy the fights!
UFC Noche 3 Main Event On ESPN+:
145 lbs.: Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva
UFC Noche 3 Main Card On ESPN+ (6 p.m. ET):
135 lbs: Rob Font vs. David Martinez (not Raul Rosas Jr.)
155 lbs.: Jared Gordon vs. Rafa Garcia
185 lbs.: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
135 lbs.: Santiago Luna vs. Quang Le
UFC Noche 3 ‘Prelims’ Under Card On ESPN+ (3 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Daniil Donchenko vs. Rodrigo Sezinando
155 lbs. Alexander Hernandez vs. Diego Ferreira
185 lbs.: Jose Medina vs. Dusko Todorovic
155 lbs.: Claudio Puelles vs. Joaquim Silva
115 lbs.: Amanda Lemos vs. Tatiana Suarez
125 lbs.: Jesus Aguilar vs. Luis Gurule
185 lbs.: Sedriques Dumas vs. Zachary Reese
125 lbs.: Alessandro Costa vs. Alden Coria
135 lbs.: Alice Pereira vs. Montserrat Rendon
*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire Noche UFC 3 fight card on fight night, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card matchups scheduled for 3 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET.
