What’s the perfect way to get ready for the holidays? By watching some of the most electrifying athletes in the world do battle in the desert. Bad blood is sure to boil again on Saturday, December 14 as three title fights will rage at UFC 245 on ESPN+. Taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, UFC fans are in for a treat as there are plenty of storylines to go around with this card. Rivalries will be rekindled and some new ones are sure to spark up.
The main bout is for the UFC Welterweight championship and features current champion Kamaru Usman taking on Colby Covington. There’s no love lost between these two as they’re set to do battle in the Octagon after previously jawing, trash talking and getting into an altercation in March at a Vegas hotel. So this is the perfect setting for them to put it all on the line.
Both are 15-1 and have held the Welterweight title, as Usman is the current champion and Covington is a former interim champion. Usman has won 14 straight fights and Covington comes in on a seven-fight win streak. Usman hasn’t lost since 2013 while Covington has been perfect since 2015. In Covington’s last fight, he set a record for most strikes thrown in a single fight with 541. So there’ll be a plenty of punches and kicks flying on Saturday.
Also on the main card, the men’s Featherweight championship is up for grabs as champion Max Holloway is set for another title defense, this time against Alex Volkanovski. Holloway has won his last 13 bouts at Featherweight including three pervious title defenses. He is the #7 best pound-for-pound fighter and comes into this fight on the heels of an impressive victory over Frankie Edgar in July at UFC 240. Volkanovski is a solid Australian striker who is ready to challenge for the title. He is surging off his biggest win in his last fight, taking down Jose Aldo at UFC 237 in May, bringing his current win streak to 17 straight. He hasn’t lost since 2013.
On the women’s side, one of the best to ever do it, Amanda Nunes, is set to do battle and close out the decade with another victory. She’ll take on the Dutch fighter Germaine de Randamie for the Bantamweight championship. Nunes, who currently holds both the Bantamweight and the Featherweight titles, is the first woman to hold two titles in two different weight classes. She hasn’t lost since 2014 and has defeated six current of former UFC champions.
As if this bout didn’t mean enough with the Bantamweight title on the line, de Randamie’s last loss came against Nunes, back at UFC: Fight for the Troops 3 in November of 2013. de Randamie is a decorated kickboxer who is on a five-fight winning streak. Her last fight ended in 16 seconds, after she TKO’d Aspen Ladd in July. de Randamie was the first Featherweight champion in UFC history before being stripped of that title, meaning she’s hungry for another shot at a belt.
The main card kicks off at 10 PM ET with battles between Jose Aldo and Marlon Moraes as well as Petr Yan and Urijah Faber. Aldo looks to rebound from that loss to Volkanovski and end the year by giving Moraes his seventh career loss. Faber is trying to go two for two this year after his win in July against Ricky Simon while Yan looks for a ninth consecutive victory and 14th of his career.
The night starts at 6:30 PM ET with the early prelims featuring Hooper/Teymur, Moreno/Kara-France, Eye/Araujo and Soriano/Piechota. These will be followed by the prelims beginning at 8 PM ET with the fights of Neal/Perry, Vieira/Aldana, and Brown/Saunders.
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