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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to start the year 2020 with a bang. During the 28th year of its operations, the largest MMA promotion in the world has a stacked fight card for UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cowboy. The event will be taking place on 18 January 2020, at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area.
The main event marks the return of arguably the biggest draw in the history of the sport, former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion, Conor McGregor against the former Lightweight title challenger Donald Cerrone. It is among the most-anticipated bouts in the MMA world. McGregor will make his much-anticipated return after his loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018. Despite the bout being a non-title fight, it is expected to break pay-per-view figures. McGregor has headlined the top five highest-selling pay-per-view fights in UFC history, with his defeat to Nurmagomedov holding the record at 2.4 million buys.
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In the co-main event, the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, Holly Holm will square off against the former title challenger Raquel Pennington. The former UFC Bantamweight Champion made her mark in the MMA world with her brutal 2015 head-kick knockout of Ronda Rousey. The co-main event marks the rematch against Raquel Pennington. Holm earned her victory by the difference of a point over Pennington on her Octagon debut, utilizing the same solid takedown defense she will require this weekend.
The fight card showcases major bouts featuring upcoming stars of the sport and crafted veterans which is guaranteed to thrill hardcore MMA fans. The fight card showcases some of the veterans, titleholders in multiple promotions, performance award winners, fighters with undefeated professional records, and the Deaflympics wrestling titleholder from 2017. Check out the top 5 fights other than the main event and co-main event that is guaranteed to thrill the hardcore fight fans.
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#5 Alexey Oleinik vs. Maurice Greene
Aleksei Oleinik (57-13-1) has his fighting career spanning 23 years since he had his first professional fight in the year 1997. He is a veteran of M-1 Global, ProFC, and IAFC and has competed for Bellator, KSW, and YAMMA Pit Fighting. The only fighter to win a UFC fight via Ezekiel choke, Oleinik has fought 71 bouts throughout his career with a record of 57 wins. Oleinik has also secured Performance of the Night at the UFC four times against Mark Hunt, Jared Rosholt, Viktor Pesta, and Júnior Albini.
The veteran is set to take on the upcoming star Maurice Greene (8-3-0). Greene started training MMA in his early 20s to lose weight after hitting the scale at 330 pounds. The inspiring journey of Greene took him to appear in The Ultimate Fighter 28 TV series ahead of competing in the Heavyweight division in the UFC. Both the fighters are back to compete after a loss and will look forward to reviving their fighting careers.
#4 Anthony Pettis vs. Diego Ferreira
Anthony "Showtime" Pettis (22-9-0), the former UFC Lightweight Champion, made his professional MMA debut in December 2007. Pettis had remarkable moments throughout his career. Showtime is coached by Duke Roufus and as a member of Roufusport, he trains with fighters Alan Belcher, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell, Ben Askren, and Danny Downes.
In his previous fight, Pettis faced Nate Diaz on 17th August 2019, at UFC 241. Pettis will be coming back to redeem his loss to set his record straight when he faces Carlos Diego Ferreira (16-2-0) who is on a 5-fight win streak. Carlos Diego Ferreira has a lot to prove as he is set to face one of the iconic names in the division. Ferreira had his run-ins with doping violations in his past that a win over Pettis will help him to reclaim his legacy. Ferreira joined the UFC in 2014 after he won the Legacy FC lightweight title. After going 2-2 in his first four bouts, Ferreira went on a five-fright unbeaten streak.
#3 Sodiq Yusuff vs. Andre Fili
Sodiq "Super" Yusuff (10-1-0) is among the new wave of stars with their ancestral origins in the continent of Africa. Super has made an impact in the MMA world competing in 5 different promotions before securing his contract with the UFC. The 26-year-old impressed with a unanimous decision win on 24 July 2018, at Dana White's Contender Series 14 against Mike Davis.
He will face the biggest challenge in his career when he will step into the cage to face Andre Fili (20-6-0). Fili is battle-tested having faced the likes of Dennis Bermudez, Max Holloway, Yair Rodríguez, and Artem Lobov. Fili has won four of his past five bouts while Yusuff is undefeated in the promotion with three straight wins. Fili has much to prove as he is 8-5 with the promotion and has never won more than two fights in a row. The fight is crucial for both the stars who are determined to make their name in one of the toughest divisions in the promotion.
#2 Tim Elliott vs. Askar Askarov
Tim Elliott vs. Askar Askarov could be one of the most exciting fights for the hardcore fans of combat sports. Tim Elliott (15-9-1) is the former Titan FC Flyweight Champion. Elliott has been a professional competitor since 2009 and is currently in his second tenure with the UFC. He is a three-time winner of fight bonuses in the UFC, winning the fight of the night twice, and performance of the night once. However, Elliott believes the fight at UFC 246 is the most important of his career. While preparing for the fight the 33-year-old was in a car accident that left him with a minor injury.
His opponent Askar Askarov (10-0-1) hails from Dagestan and has an exciting personal journey as the partially deaf wrestler overcame every odds and has an undefeated MMA professional record. Askarov is managed by Ali Abdelaziz who also manages the cream of the UFC, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Zabit Magomedsharipov, Kamaru Usman, and Ottman Azaitar. He had won several titles in wrestling, grappling and MMA, including the Deaflympics wrestling title in 2017.
#1 Maycee Barber vs. Roxanne Modafferi
Maycee Barber (8-0-0) made her UFC debut on 10 November 2018, on UFC Fight Night: Korean Zombie vs. Rodríguez against Hannah Cifers. The undefeated prodigy will be carrying many expectations on her shoulder when she will face Roxanne Modafferi (23-16-0). The bout also marks a youth vs. experience battle as Roxanne Modafferi, who’s 16 years older, had made her professional debut when Barber was only 5 years old. Barber had trained at Roufusport, with the likes of former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis, who will also be competing in the same fight card.
Modafferi made her official UFC debut against fellow TUF 18 alumni Raquel Pennington at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale on November 30. She lost the fight via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). It is ironic that Pennington also fights in the card, in the co-main event against Holm. Modafferi will pose a tough challenge to Barber as she was the North American Grappling Association, 2002 Fighter of the Year.
