Ed Herman to fight Mike Rodriguez at Sept. 12 UFC event

Ed Herman is getting another chance to step into the cage in 2020.

After recently losing out on a series of scheduled fights, Herman is expected to face Mike Rodriguez in a light heavyweight bout at a UFC event on Sept. 12, people with knowledge of the booking told MMA Fighting.

The news comes after a recent report that Herman was to fight John Allan on Sept. 12, but Allan told MMA Fighting that visa issues forced him out of the bout. Allan, who in a rare instance for the UFC had two fights reportedly booked, is still expected to fight Roman Dolidze at UFC 255 on Nov. 21.

Herman’s first reported opponent for Sept. 12 was Gerald Meerschaert, but that bout was not officially announced. The two were also previously booked to fight on Aug. 1, but that fight was canceled when Meerschaert tested positive for COVID-19.

Herman (24-14, 1 NC) has also seen two bookings with Da Un Jung canceled in 2020 and he has yet to compete since Nov. 11, 2019, when he beat Khadis Ibragimov by unanimous decision for his second straight win.

Rodriguez (11-4, 1 NC) defeated Marcin Prachnio by first-round knockout in his most recent outing at UFC on ESPN 15, which took place just two weeks ago. “Slow” has compiled a 3-2 (1 NC) UFC record since earning a contract on the Contender Series.

The Sept. 12 event is scheduled to air live on the ESPN+ streaming service. It is currently without an announced headliner as the light heavyweight main event between Glover Teixeira and Thiago Santos was postponed until Oct. 3 following news of Teixeira’s positive test for COVID-19.

Guilherme Cruz contributed to this report.