UFC 266 will take place this Sunday (AEST), with Australia's Alex Volkanovski defending his featherweight title against Brian Ortega.
Cult hero Nick Diaz will have his first fight in over six years, when he takes on former champion Robbie Lawler in a special five-round fight, while Valentina Shevchenko and Lauren Murphy will go head-to-head to for the women's flyweight title.
It's expected to be a great card with a host of big-name fighters.
UFC 266 FIGHT CARD
Two title fights will headline with UFC 266 card, with Australia's Alex Volkanovski defending his strap against Brian Ortega, while women's flyweight stars Valentina Shevchenko and Lauren Murphy go head-to-head.
Nick Diaz will step inside the octagon for the first time since 2015, taking on former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
Here's the full card for UFC 266.
UFC 266 Main Card
- UFC Featherweight Title: Alex Volkanovski (c) vs Brian Ortega
- UFC Women's Flyweight Title: Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs Lauren Murphy
- Nick Diaz vs Robbie Lawler
- Curtis Blaydes vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Jessica Andrade vs Cynthia Calvillo
UFC 266 Prelim Card
- Marlon Moraes vs Merab Dvalishvili
- Dan Hooker vs Nasprat Haqparast
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs Chris Daukas
UFC 266 Early Prelim Card
- Manon Fiorot vs Mayra Bueno Silva
- Nick Maximov vs Cody Brundage
- Matthew Semelsberger vs Martin Sano
IS ALEX VOLKANOVSKI AUSTRALIAN?
Yes, he sure is - Volkanovski was born on the NSW south coast and still resides in Wollongong to this day.
The 32-year-old is of Macedonian and Greek descent.
Volkanovski will defend his UFC featherweight title against Brian Ortega at UFC 266.
WHO IS BRIAN ORTEGA?
Brian Ortega is an American fighter, who contends in the UFC's featherweight division. He has a career record of 15-1 (1 no-contest).
The 30-year-old has been with the promotion since 2014, where his only career loss came at the hands of former champion Max Holloway back in 2018.
Ortega is the No.2 ranked featherweight contender behind Holloway.
His biggest career win came against former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, with Ortega earning a knockout win in the first round of the fight.
ALEX VOLKANOVSKI HOPING TO STOP 'UNPROFESSIONAL' BRIAN ORTEGA
Alex Volkanovski wants to expose opponent Brian Ortega's unprofessionalism when he steps into the cage at UFC 266 this Sunday (Saturday in the US) in Las Vegas.
The featherweight champion hasn't fought since last July but has been preparing for Ortega for much of that time.
Originally scheduled to defend his belt against Ortega at UFC 260 in March, Volkanovksi contracted COVID-19, seeing the fight postponed.
The pair then opposed each other as coaches on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter, acquainting themselves further while filming the show.
After all that, Volkanovski says he doesn't have much time for the 30-year-old and is itching to fight him.
"I can't wait to put some hands on him. I've never been in this position. I've never had to spend so much time with an opponent. This is different," he said in the pre-fight press conference.
"And with the long time off, I'm just eager to get back in there and have some fun in there. And on top of that I get to punch him in the face."
NICK DIAZ RETURNING TO UFC AFTER SIX-YEAR ABSENCE
MMA cult hero Nick Diaz will have his first fight in 2,428 days this weekend, when he takes on former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at UFC 266.
Diaz's last fight, which was well over six years ago, ended in a loss to Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 183.
The result was eventually changed to a no contest, after it was revealed Silva had tested positive for PEDs.
Even though he's only fought three times in the past decade and hasn't won any of those fights, Diaz's return to the UFC at the age of 38 has got plenty of fans excited due to his cult hero-like status.
Despite never winning a title in the UFC, Diaz held gold in Strikeforce and was once considered one of the most exciting fighters in all of mixed martial arts.
His return bout against Lawler is a rematch from their 2004 bout at UFC 47, which saw Diaz win via knockout in the second round.
Nick is of course the older brother of Nate Diaz.
DAN HOOKER'S EXTRA MOTIVATION AHEAD OF UFC 266
Dan Hooker is pissed off. He has every reason to be.
In May, Hooker's training partner and good friend, Fau Vake, was attacked by four men while on a night out in Auckland.
The cowardly attack left Fau fighting for his life in Auckland City Hospital. He died nine days later.
In August, one of the men involved in the attack was sentenced. Prosecutors allege Ofa Folau was involved in the early part of the attack, but wasn't considered responsible for Fau's death.
He was sentenced to just six months home detention.
So yeah, Dan Hooker is pissed off.
"I'm angry about the situation, and that's definitely fuelled my training," Hooker told Sporting News ahead of his bout with Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266.
"It's fuelled my thirst to get out there and fight. I have always have that thirst, but it's definitely added an incredible amount of fuel to the fire.
"There's a lot of anger about the situation - a lot of emotion - and the only way that I know how to deal with that kind of emotion is to fight, to get out there and compete."
