UFC 266 will be held on September 25 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card will be headlined by a featherweight championship bout between Brian Ortega and current 145-pound champ Alexander Volkanovski. The two currently coach on the UFC cult show The Ultimate Fighter.
The co-main event of 266 will feature another championship bout; Valentina Shevchenko will take on Lauren Murphy for the flyweight title.
Nick Diaz will face off against Robbie Lawler in a rematch 17 years in the making. The two fighters first fought at UFC 47 in April 2004. Diaz walked out of the octagon with his hand raised after he knocked out 'Ruthless' in the fight's second round.
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UFC 266 will also feature a heavyweight showdown between Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Blaydes lost his last fight to Derrick Lewis, while 'Bigi Boy' is coming off an impressive knockout win against Augusto Sakai.
Former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade will take on Cynthia Calvillo in a flyweight scrap. Both fighters are coming off a loss and will be looking to turn things around.
According to the UFC website, the following fights have been confirmed for the UFC 266 card:
Main event: Alexander Volkanovski vs Brian Ortega for the featherweight title
Co-main event: Valentina Shevchenko vs Lauren Murphy for the flyweight title
Nick Diaz vs Robbie Lawler (welterweight bout)
Curtis Blaydes vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik (heavyweight bout)
Jessica Andrade vs Cynthia Calvillo (flyweight bout)
Marlon Moraes vs Merab Dvalishvili (bantamweight bout)
Shamil Abdurakhimov vs Chris Daukaus (heavyweight bout)
Manon Fiorot vs Mayra Bueno Silva (flyweight bout)
Karl Roberson vs Nick Maximov (middleweight bout)
According to MMA Junkie, a bantamweight fight between Ricky Simon and Timur Valiev and a lightweight scrap between Uros Medic and Jalin Turner will also take place on the UFC 266 card. Still, no official announcement has been made.
UFC lightweight Dan Hooker has also expressed interest in fighting on the same card as his teammate Volkanovski, but no fight has been arranged for 'The Hangman' as of yet.
After a six-year hiatus, Nick Diaz will return to action at UFC 266
MMA icon Nick Diaz will make his return to the octagon at UFC 266 after a six-year break. His last fight took place in January 2015 when he faced Anderson Silva at UFC 183.
Although the fight ended in a unanimous decision win for 'The Spider', the result was later changed to a no-contest due to Silva testing positive for banned substances.
Diaz was recently seen in attendance for the UFC 263 event where his younger brother Nate competed against Leon Edwards.