Costa vs Rodriguez

Who won Costa vs Rodriguez?

Melquizael Costa beat Christian Rodriguez by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the prelims of UFC Fight Night, on Saturday 29th March 2025 at Arena CDMX in Mexico City.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Melquizael Costa.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Featherweight division, which meant the weight limit was 145 pounds (10.4 stone or 65.8 KG).

Costa vs Rodriguez stats

Melquizael Costa stepped into the octagon with a record of 22 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 8 by submission.

Christian Rodriguez made his way to the cage with a record of 12 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 3 of those wins coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

This was Melquizael Costa's 7th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2023. Christian Rodriguez marked his 8th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2022.

Melquizael Costa's UFC record stood at 5-2-0, while Christian Rodriguez's came in at 5-3-0.

The stats suggested Costa had a slight advantage in power over Rodriguez, with a 32% knock out percentage over Rodriguez's 25%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Costa had a slight advantage over Rodriguez, with a 36% submission rate over Rodriguez's 33%.

Melquizael Costa was the older man by 1 year, at 28 years old.

Costa had a height advantage of 3 inches over Rodriguez.

Costa was arguably the more experienced fighter, having had 15 more fights, and made his debut in 2014, 11 years and 4 months later than Rodriguez, whose first professional fight was in . He had fought 37 more professional rounds, 69 to Rodriguez's 32.

Costa vs Rodriguez form

Christian Rodriguez had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Austin Bashi at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Ribas 2 on 11th January 2025 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had lost to Julian Erosa at UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. Cortez on 13th July 2024 by submission in the 1st round at Ball Arena, Denver.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Isaac Dulgarian at UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura on 16th March 2024 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had defeated Cameron Saaiman at UFC Fight Night – Yusuff vs Barboza on 14th October 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas.

He was victorious against Raul Rosas Jr. at UFC 287 on 8th April 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Miami-Dade Arena, Miami.

Activity check

Rodriguez's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 3 months and 9 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 5 months and 15 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What time did Costa vs Rodriguez start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 9:40 PM UTC , which was 5:40 PM EST or 2:40 PM PST on the West Coast of America, or 9:40 PM GMT in the UK.

What were the odds on Costa vs Rodriguez?

Melquizael Costa was a 9/5 (+180) underdog going into the contest, while Christian Rodriguez made his way into the ring at 9/20 (-220) with oddsmakers.