Jean Silva will now fight Jose Delgado in the main event of Noche UFC after Yair Rodriguez pulled out of the Sept. 12 card due to undisclosed reasons; multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to MMA Fighting.
Noche UFC will take place at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Delgado (12-2) gets his first main event assignment in his native Arizona coming off a pair of wins over Andre Fili and Austin Bashi earlier this year, earning himself a spot on the new Meta UFC rankings. Delgado was victorious in four of his UFC appearances, losing only to Nathaniel Wood in 2025.
Silva (17-3) will attempt to keep his momentum going after a decision victory over Arnold Allen in January, when he rebounded from a thrilling title eliminator loss to Diego Lopes. “Lord” currently holds a 6-1 UFC record with four bonuses cashed.
Rodriguez (20-5, 1 no contest) hasn’t fought since April 2025, when he beat Patricio Pitbull via decision at UFC 314. That was also the first appearance in over a year for the former interim champion, putting an end to his two-fight losing skid against Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega.
Damon Martin contributed to this report.