UFC 266 is setting up as a blockbuster event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, featuring two championship fights and the long-awaited return of Nick Diaz on the pay-per-view main card.
The main card scraps at UFC 266
- UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will for the first time defend his title against someone other than former champion Max Holloway when he duels with The Ultimate Fighter Season 29 coaching rival Brian Ortega.
- The co-main event pits dominant UFC flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, against challenger Lauren Murphy — who has won five straight contests including two by stoppage.
- Diaz will return to the Octagon for the first time since 2015 to rematch former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler in a throwback to the pair’s original meeting in 2004.
- Flyweight and heavyweight contenders are also set to compete on the main card, as former UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade will face Cynthia Calvillo, and top-ranked contenders Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Curtis Blaydes will fight to round out the heavyweight division’s top five.
Alexander Volkanovski can quiet any remaining doubters
Fans are split on their opinion of UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
While his incredible fighting prowess is undoubted, his claim to the title is disputed by some, after Volkanovski’s successive decision wins over former champion Max Holloway were closely contested and could have gone to either man. However, his UFC 266 main event scrap with Brian Ortega gives the 32-year-old an opportunity to quiet the doubters and assert his status atop the featherweight division.
Ortega, 30, will look to capture UFC gold for the first time in his career against Volkanovski. The California native looked simply sensational in his most recent outing. A masterclass unanimous decision over perennial contender Chan Sung Jung in October of 2020. Even more impressive, the victory was Ortega’s first outing after a four-round drubbing at the hands of Holloway in his first attempt at UFC gold in December of 2018.
The title fight between Volkanovski and Ortega has moved about the schedule somewhat, originally booked for March of 2021 before delays due to COVID-19 and the filming of TUF Season 29.
Lauren Murphy’s rise to Contendership
Valentina Shevchenko’s status as one of the pound-for-pound greats in MMA today is assured, as she has been one of the most dominant competitors in the sport in recent years. At her championship weight class of 125 pounds, she has looked unbeatable. The question fans are asking heading into UFC 266 … Is she?
Houston’s Lauren Murphy has won five straight fights en route to her first championship appearance with the UFC. A win streak dating back to 2019. She stopped Maria Borella with strikes, outpointed Andrea Lee, Roxanne Modafferi, and Joanna Calderwood, and submitted Liliya Shakirova in order to earn a matchup with Shevchenko in the co-main event of UFC 266.
It will be a tall task to dethrone the well-rounded Shevchenko, but Murphy believes she is the woman built for the job.
Shevchenko currently holds wins over the three of the division’s top four-ranked athletes, with Murphy being the highest-ranked opponent she has yet to face.
What can we expect from Diaz vs Lawler?
Perhaps the biggest question mark at UFC 266 is what Nick Diaz might look like after seven years away from the sport.
Formerly a top star at welterweight, Diaz was one of the most beloved fighters in MMA thanks to his entertaining fighting style and trademark no-expletives-given attitude. Diaz fought for the interim and undisputed UFC welterweight titles in the past, beat MMA legends BJ Penn and Frank Shamrock, and wowed fans for decades in the UFC, Pride FC, Strikeforce, Elite XC, and beyond.
At UFC 266, he’ll face a former rival and knockout victim in Robbie Lawler, who held the UFC welterweight title from 2014-2016. Like Diaz, Lawler earned a stellar reputation among fight fans for his brutal fighting style and penchant for putting foes to sleep.
Lawler has lost four straight since 2017, while Diaz hasn’t won a professional fight since 2011.
–Field Level Media
