UFC 259: Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya fight card
By Ivan Surlina
UFC 259: Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya fight card.
A frontrunner for card of the year, UFC 259 boasts three title fights and an absolutely stacked preliminary card.
The event will be headlined by newly crowned light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz as he takes on middleweight champion Israel Adesanya who comes up 20 pounds in weight to challenge for the title. Blachowicz won the vacant title at UFC 253 when he stopped Dominick Reyes via second-round TKO. Adesanya will look to join a short list of UFC “champ-champs” should he defeat Blachowicz, a tall order for anyone at the moment.
The co-main event will give Amanda Nunes yet another opportunity to defend one of her belts, this being at featherweight, while simultaneously extending her winning streak in the UFC to 12. However, anything can happen in a fight, and challenger Megan Anderson, who is an 8-1 betting underdog, has the size and length to compete physically with Nunes. Anderson is on a two-fight winning streak, both of which came via stoppage, and seems to be putting it all together at the right time.
The first title fight of the night comes from the men’s bantamweight division. Champion Petr Yan will look to defend his belt for the first time, but he faces incredibly stiff competition in Aljamain Sterling. Yan won the vacant title at UFC 251 where he defeated Jose Aldo by fifth-round technical knockout. Sterling has won five in a row, most recently defeating Cory Sandhagen by submission in less than 90 seconds at UFC 250. On paper this is essentially a pick ’em fight, and the betting lines for reflect that sentiment as the odds are almost even as we enter fight week.
Take a look below at the exciting matchups that will occur this weekend at UFC 259.
Full UFC 259: Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya fight card
* Fight cards subject to change
Main Card (10 p.m. ET, PPV):
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya
- Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson
- Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling
- Islam Makhachev vs. Drew Dober
- Thiago Santos vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Preliminary Card (8 p.m. ET, ESPN+ & ESPN):
- Dominick Cruz vs. Casey Kenney
- Song Yadong vs. Kyler Phillips
- Joseph Benavidez vs. Askar Askarov
- Rogerio Bontorin vs. Kai Kara-France
- Livinha Souza vs Amanda Lemos
Early Preliminary Card (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+ & UFC Fight Pass):
- Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa
- Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Carlos Ulberg
- Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews
- Uros Medic vs. Aaron Cruz
- Mario Bautista vs. Trevin Jones
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