UFC 259

UFC 259: Błachowicz vs. Adesanya is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on March 6, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.[1][2]

UFC 259: Błachowicz vs. Adesanya
Information
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateMarch 6, 2021 (2021-03-06)
VenueUFC Apex
CityLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane UFC 259: Błachowicz vs. Adesanya UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Chimaev

Background
Błachowicz (left) will make his first title defense. Meanwhile, Adesanya (right) looks to become the first fighter to hold the light heavyweight and middleweight titles simultaneously.

The event is expected to be headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion Jan Błachowicz and current UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya.[3] If successful, Adesanya would become the fourth man to be champion in two divisions simultaneously and fifth fighter overall (after Conor McGregor at UFC 205, Daniel Cormier at UFC 226, Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 and Henry Cejudo at UFC 238), as well as the eighth person overall to win a title in different divisions. This will be the sixth time in UFC history that champions in different divisions will fight for the same title, following UFC 94, UFC 205, UFC 226, UFC 232 and UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw.[4][5]

A UFC Women's Featherweight Championship bout between the current champion Amanda Nunes (also the current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion) and former Invicta FC Featherweight Champion Megan Anderson will serve as the co-main event.[6] The pairing was initially scheduled for UFC 256, but Nunes pulled out due to an undisclosed injury and the bout was postponed.[7]

A UFC Bantamweight Championship bout between current champion Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling is expected to complete the triad of title fights.[8] They were also scheduled for UFC 256, but Yan pulled out due to visa and travel issues, leading to the postponement.[9][10]

A flyweight bout between former UFC Flyweight Championship challenger Tim Elliott (also The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions flyweight winner) and Jordan Espinosa was expected to take place at UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar.[11] However, Espinosa tested positive for COVID-19 in late December and the pairing was moved to this event.[12]

A lightweight bout between Islam Makhachev and Drew Dober is expected to take place at this event.[13] They were previously scheduled to meet on April 2016 at UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans, but the bout was scrapped after Makhachev failed an out-of-competition drug screening, testing positive for the banned anti-ischemic meldonium.[14]

Fight card
UFC 259 Fight card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Light Heavyweight Jan Błachowicz (c) vs. Israel Adesanya [lower-alpha 1]
Women’s Featherweight Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Megan Anderson [lower-alpha 2]
Bantamweight Petr Yan (c) vs. Aljamain Sterling [lower-alpha 3]
Welterweight Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews
Light Heavyweight Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Carlos Ulberg
Flyweight Rogério Bontorin vs. Kai Kara-France
  1. For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
  2. For the UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship.
  3. For the UFC Bantamweight Championship.

[15]

Announced bouts

See also

References
  1. Staff (2021-01-24). "Official: UFC confirmed the hit duel of Jan Błachowicz". sport.pl. Retrieved 2021-01-24. (in Polish)
  2. Mike Heck (2021-01-30). "Dana White confirms UFC 259 will take place in Las Vegas". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  3. Mike Bohn (2020-12-30). "Champ vs. champ: Jan Blachowicz puts up light heavyweight title vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 259". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  4. Staff (2020-12-30). "UFC real or not: This is the right time for Israel Adesanya's double-champ move". espn.com. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  5. Brett Okamoto (2020-12-30). "Israel Adesanya to challenge Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight on March 6". espn.com. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  6. Brett Okamoto (2020-12-21). "Amanda Nunes-Megan Anderson title fight rebooked to March 6". espn.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  7. Staff (2020-11-09). "Megan Anderson says Amanda Nunes out of UFC 256, title fight pushed to 2021". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  8. Mike Bohn and Nolan King (2021-01-07). "UFC 259 gets third title fight with Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling rebooking". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  9. Staff (2020-11-22). "Yan vs. Sterling UFC title fight canceled". tass.ru. Retrieved 2021-01-07. (in Russian)
  10. Jed Meshew (2020-11-24). "Morning Report: Petr Yan reveals why he withdrew from scheduled title defense against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 256". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  11. Farah Hannoun (2020-10-15). "UFC books Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa for Jan. 16 event". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  12. Staff and Nolan King (2020-12-22). "Jordan Espinosa tests positive for COVID-19; Tim Elliott fight rescheduled for UFC 259". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  13. Jay Anderson (2020-12-21). "Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev booked for UFC 259". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  14. Tristen Critchfield (2016-04-15). "Islam Makhachev tests positive for banned substance, UFC on Fox 19 bout canceled". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  15. "UFC 259: Błachowicz vs. Adesanya". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  16. Murray, Doug (2020-11-13). "UFC: Thiago Santos vs. Aleksandar Rakic Added to March 6 Card". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  17. "Uros Medic vs. Aalon Cruz agregado a UFC 259". MMA.uno. 2020-10-05. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  18. "Randy Costa vs. Trevin Jones on tap for UFC event on March 6". MMA.uno. 2020-11-28. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  19. Farah Hannoun (2020-12-01). "Joseph Benavidez vs. Askar Askarov booked for UFC 259 on March 6". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  20. Mike Bohn, Farah Hannoun (2020-12-05). "Ex-champ Dominick Cruz meets Casey Kenney at UFC 259 in March". MMA Junkie. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  21. Anderson, Jay (2020-12-21). "Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev Booked for UFC 259". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  22. DNA, MMA (2021-01-08). "Song Yadong treft Kyler Phillips tijdens UFC 259 op 6 maart". MMA DNA. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  23. DNA, MMA (2021-01-08). "Livia Renata Souza vs. Amanda Lemos toegevoegd aan UFC 259 op 6 maart". MMA DNA. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
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