Date, time, card, fight
The next mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship will take place on March 27, 2021. From the already familiar “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi (island Yas, United Arab Emirates), the competition is transferred back to the USA - Las Vegas, Nevada, the UFC APEX sports complex.
By the way, the battles took place there before, but, due to COVID-19, the organizers were forced to temporarily move the tournament to the United Arab Emirates, which kindly agreed to host the competition. But now the 260th numbered tournament will take place within its native walls.
The live broadcast of the competition will begin on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 01:00 Moscow time (prelims), and the start of the main fights is scheduled for 04:00 Moscow time. The live stream will be available on the UFC Fight Pass streaming service as well as on the Wink online multimedia platform.
UFC 260 Main Card and Prelims
The following battles have been announced at the moment:
- Stipe Miocic and Francis N'Gannou;
- Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega;
- Modestas Bukauskas and Michał Oleksiejczuk;
- Randa Markos and Luana Pinheiro;
- Tyron Woodley and Vicente Luque;
- Jessica Penne and Hannah Goldy;
- Sean O'Malley and Thomas Almeida;
- Abu Azaitar and Marc-André Barriault;
- Blagoy Ivanov and Marcin Tybura;
- Jamie Mullarkey and Khama Worthy.
The fight between Johnny Walker and Jimmy Crute was also announced, but due to Walker's injury, the fight will not take place.
Fight of the evening
The main event of the tournament is the fight for the UFC heavyweight title between Croatian American Stipe Miocic and Franco-Cameroonian fighter Francis N'Gannou, nicknamed “The Predator”. In January 2018, the two fighters had already met, and then N'Gannou was defeated. True, but then the Cameroonian “laid down” in the first rounds Curtis Blades, Kane Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos and Jairzinho Rosenstrike. But for Stipe, after the fight, everything was not so stable. Firstly, the champion's title was taken away from him - in July 2018 Miocic was knocked out by Daniel Cormier, but a year later Stipe took revenge on Cormier, regaining the title of the best in the heavyweight division.
It is worth noting that the bookmakers in their predictions are more inclined to win N'Gannou, who is now in the 2nd place of the best heavyweights in the UFC.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Brian Ortega
The second, major event of the evening is considered the fight for the UFC featherweight title between Australian Alexander Volkanovski and American Brian Ortega. Volkanovski is the reigning featherweight champion, and he has not known defeats since 2013. US Representative Ortega is also an experienced fighter, but bookmakers believe that he will not be able to take the title from Volkanovski.
Modestas Bukauskas vs Michał Oleksiejczuk
Modestas Bukauskas the representative of Lithuania, his opponent Michał Oleksiejczuk from Poland, are in the light heavyweight division. The fight should be interesting: athletes have a good record of wins and losses. But bookmakers recommend betting on the Pole - they believe that due to the advantage in weight, Oleksiejczuk can win.
Randa Markos vs Luana Pinheiro
Women's minimum weight. Randa Marcos from Canada and Luana Pinheiro from Brazil will meet here. Experienced Marcos vs. debutant Pinheiro. Amazing show awaits us - a fight between a man and a woman. It is predicted that everyone is betting on the Brazilian, and Marcos practically does not get a chance. The reasoning is as simple as possible - gender differences. The Canadian has much more experience in the UFC performance, but this, apparently, does not add optimism to the bookmakers. Moreover, the losing streak of Marcos tightened up.
Tyron Woodley vs Vicente Luque
American Tyrone Woodley and Brazilian Vicente Luque are in the top 15 welterweight. But if an athlete from Brazil is considered promising, which he proves with victories, then 38-year-old Woodley with his defeats is one of the candidates for a departure from the UFC, where a serious reduction in fighters is planned. So the American has something to prove in this fight.
Jessica Penne vs Hannah Goldy
Purely American confrontation in the women's minimum weight class. Since 2017, 38-year-old Penn has been serving a disqualification due to doping, now she needs to make up for lost time, so the fight with 28-year-old Goldie is fundamental - Penn must show that in 4 years without the Octagon, she has not lost her shape. By the way, Goldie lost her last fight, and she also needs to prove that it was an accident.
Sean O'Malley vs Thomas Almeida
The bantamweight fight is among some of the best representatives of the UFC. American O'Malley, according to BC, has an advantage over Brazilian Almeida: he is younger, taller and performs at home. But Almeida has a lot of experience in fighting without rules, so this will be an interesting confrontation of youth versus experience. True, he is followed by a series of defeats - perhaps in March it will be possible to interrupt it.
Abu Azaitar vs Marc-André Barriault
Moroccan Abu Azaitar returns after a 7-month doping suspension, and in the framework of UFC-260 fight with Canadian Marc-André Barriault (middleweight). The last one also had problems with doping, for which his victory over Oscar Piehota was canceled. So Barrio will try to win the first triumph in the octagon, but whether the more experienced Azaitar will allow him to do this is a question.
Blagoy Ivanov vs Marcin Tybura
Heavyweight fight with the participation of another Pole - Marcin Tybura - and Bulgarian Blagoy Ivanov. The last one lost the last 2 fights, while Tybura, on the contrary, won the last 4. The fighters are close in the ranking (Tybura is 15th place, Ivanov is 13th place), so it will be an interesting meeting of almost equal opponents. But the bookmakers give a slightly higher coefficient for the Bulgarian victory.
Jamie Mullarkey vs Khama Worthy
The most recent announced UFC 260 fight is the lightweight fight between American Khama “Death Star” Worthy and Australian Jamie Mullarkey. Mullarkey has not yet won in the UFC, and, according to BC, he has nothing to count on in the upcoming fight - everyone calls Worthy the favorite.
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