Two of the top young featherweight fighters in the world will meet in April
Yair Rodriguez takes on Andre Fili at UFC 197 on April 23 in Las Vegas, UFC senior vice president of public relations Dave Sholler announced Monday night on Twitter.
The bout being targeted was first reported by Ariel Helwani two weeks ago on UFC Tonight.
Rodriguez (6-1), the first The Ultimate Fighter Latin America winner, has won all three of his UFC fights and four in a row overall. The Mexico native is coming off a unanimous decision win over Dan Hooker at UFC 192 in October. Rodriguez, 23, has been training with Jon Jones' wrestling coach Izzy Martinez in Chicago.
Fili (15-3) is coming off a huge, first-round knockout win over Gabriel Benitez in November. The Team Alpha Male product has gone 3-2 since 2013 with the UFC. One of those losses came against elite 145-pounder Max Holloway. Fili, 25, still has a very high upside in the division and has won two of three.
UFC 197 is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Daniel Cormier and former champ Jon Jones. In the co-main event, Demetrious Johnson defends his flyweight title against Henry Cejudo.