The UFC was aiming to close 2020 with a pay-per-view event on Dec. 12 that would host a tripleheader of championship bouts. As it turned out, they were lucky to have one title fight to top the card.

Now, however, officials are penciling in UFC 259 on March 6 to take another stab topping the bill with three championship fights.

Though the UFC has yet to make official announcements, UFC 259 is expected to be headlined by a champion vs. champion title fight in the 205-pound division. Middleweight beltholder Israel Adesanya has agreed to move up and challenge light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.

Two-division titleholder Amanda Nunes is also expected to put her featherweight title on the line at UFC 259 opposite Megan Anderson. They were originally slated to fight at UFC 256 in December, but there’s was one of several bouts that fell off the card.

The third championship bout slated for uFC 259 features men’s bantamweight champion Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling. Yan will be making the first defense of the belt that he claimed in a fight with Jose Aldo after Henry Cejudo retired.

Yan vs. Sterling had also been planned for UFC 256, but never materialized.

Like most future UFC events, there is no announced venue or location for UFC 259 as of yet.

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-259-shaping-up-to-host-three-title-fights

Fans will be in attendance when the UFC returns to “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi for a three-event stint starting next week.

And early Friday in the U.S., tickets already were gone not long after they went on sale for UFC 257 on Jan. 23. at Etihad Arena on Yas Island. That event features a rematch between former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor and former interim lightweight champ Dustin Poirier.

Tickets that started at $795 Arab Emirates Dirham (about $216 USD) and went all the way up to $4,995 AED ($1,360 USD) all show as sold out at Etihad Arena’s official website.

The website also lists an abundance of health and safety rules that must be adhered to by fans, and though a total number of tickets available was not announced, the site says “seating capacity has been reduced to comply with social distancing rules.”

Tickets remain available for UFC on ABC 1 next Saturday, as well as UFC on ESPN 20, which takes place Wednesday, Jan. 20. UFC on ABC 1 will be headlined by a featherweight fight between former champion Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar. Four days later, Michael Chiesa meets Neil Magny in the UFC on ESPN 20 main event. Tickets start at $595 AED ($162 USD)

The three events will be the first time since March 2020 that the UFC will have fans in attendance. After getting past the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and cancellations of events, White and the UFC eventually put on a series of events without fans in Jacksonville, Fla., then have made the UFC Apex in Las Vegas its semi-permanent home, also without fans. In addition, the UFC twice in 2020 made multi-event visits to “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi for fight cards without fans.

But the big-splash finale for the three-event run in Abu Dhabi over the course of just seven days is UFC 257, which will feature a rematch between former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor and former interim lightweight champ Dustin Poirier.

McGregor is the UFC’s biggest draw by far. He has headlined all but three of his 12 career UFC fights, including his past seven on pay-per-view. In January 2020, he fought Donald Cerrone and generated a reported 1 million pay-per-view buys, which was his lowest number since UFC 189 did a reported 825,000 buys for his interim featherweight title win over Chad Mendes. His UFC 229 submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov generated a reported UFC record 2.4 million buys.

Where the UFC will have to suffer likely significant losses are in the live gate totals that McGregor fights typically have generated, mostly in Las Vegas. His UFC 246 fight against Cerrone ha a live gate in excess of $11 million at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. UFC 229 at T-Mobile Arena and UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York each generated more than $17 million in live gate totals – an MMA record, as well as the Garden’s gate record.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-257-conor-mcgregor-dustin-poirier-rematch-fan-tickets-sold-out-abu-dhabi-fight-island

Mike Rodriguez went from almost scoring a finish to getting finished himself.

In a pivotal mistake by referee Chris Tognoni that left UFC president Dana White incensed, Rodriguez suffered a submission loss to Ed Herman at UFC on ESPN+ 35.

Rodriguez was having his way early and was about to put on the finishing touches in Round 2 when he landed a knee to Herman’s midsection that was misidentified by Tognoni as a low blow. Herman fell to the canvas and held his groin, which caused a break in the action.

When the replay was shown, it was evident the strike Rodriguez landed was a clean shot to the midsection, but Herman ended up with time to recover. The fight resumed, and a beaten-down Herman managed to turn things around remarkably. He locked up a Kimura in Round 3 that forced Rodriguez to tap.

Rodriguez (11-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and his team attempted to appeal the loss, but to no avail. The blemish will remain on his record for now, despite the major controversy.

The circumstances behind the finish make Herman’s win over Rodriguez the MMA Junkie 2020 “Robbery of the Year.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/2020-mma-robbery-of-year-mike-rodriguez-vs-ed-herman-ufc-knockout

Newly crowned Cage Warriors featherweight champion Morgan Charriere will look to kick off his year with a win when he puts his title on the line at Cage Warriors 122.

Frenchman Charriere (16-7) will take on England’s Jordan Vucenic (7-1) in the main event of the show, which forms the third leg of the promotion’s latest “Trilogy” series. Cage Warriors 120, 121, and 122 will take place from Jan. 18-20 at the York Hall in London. The events will be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.

Charriere captured the vacant 145-pound title with a third-round body-shot knockout of England’s Perry Goodwin in the main event of Cage Warriors 119 in London in December, while Vucenic earned his shot at the new champ by edging out previously-undefeated Irish contender Paul Hughes via split decision on the same card. Now the pair will face off for the title on Jan. 20.

“Welcome to my era,” said Charriere, via press release. “As a champion, I will always defend against the number one contender. I am ready to show again why I am one of the best featherweights in the world. This belt ain’t going anywhere.”

Ahead of his first title shot with Cage Warriors, Vucenic hailed the promotion for helping him develop as a fighter and evolve to the point that he can now challenge for the title.

“It was one of my main dreams when starting the sport, and it’s been an amazing show to work with and grow as a fighter,” he said. “No easy fights.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/cage-warriors-122-morgan-charriere-to-face-jordan-vucenic-in-first-featherweight-title-defense

Though it has been slow to materialize, 2021 might be the year that we finally see the Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal showdown.

In a QA on ESPN+, a fan asked UFC president Dana White, “Who do you think is the best next opponent for Jorge Masvidal?”

White was quick to respond.

“Well, the fight that we love and that I think everybody loves is the Colby Covington fight,” he said. “I think that’s the fight that everybody wants to see.”

Covington and Masvidal have been on a collision course since the former teammates, roommates and even close friends’ relationship turned sour.

Many fans who do not have the behind-the-scenes info on these best friends turned mortal enemies wonder how tensions escalated so quickly. 

In an interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani prior to UFC 244, Masvidal provided insight as to why his former friend fell out of his good graces. 

The BMF champ pointed to Covington’s online antics. More specifically, Masvidal was disgruntled with “Chaos” bringing his name up publicly during one of the number one contender’s common tangents. 

“Knowing that he’d take to the internet or online to bash me when I had never bashed him,” Masvidal said. “Whether it be for a Facebook like, or maybe he’s gonna get 10 more pay-per-view buys when we do fight. If you would sell out our friendship like that so quick, we never had a friendship.”

Fast forward to 2021, both are now top five contenders with a bout between the two appearing to be imminent, according to White.

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In a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Covington claims Masvidal is ducking him.

“Where’s he at now guys? Now he’s nowhere to be found,” Covington said. “Now he’s gonna get paid seven figures. He’s gonna get paid all this money to go fight in the octagon, and now he’s gonna have someone to pay his hospital bills, the UFC after I’m done with him.”

Regardless of Masvidal’s current whereabouts, White appears to be keen on making this bout official in the very near future.

“We’ll see how this thing plays out,” White said. “Hopefully we can get that done in the next few months.”h

Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/dana-white-targeting-colby-covington-vs-jorge-masvidal-in-2021