On Saturday, March 6, the UFC will host UFC 259: Błachowicz vs. Adesanya from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
In the night’s main event, light heavyweight champion Jan Błachowicz puts his belt on the line against middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya. Poland’s Błachowicz has experienced a career resurgence, winning four straight and capturing UFC gold with a knockout win over Dominick Reyes in September. The Nigeria native Adesanya has opened his MMA career with 20 straight victories after a lengthy kickboxing career and will look to become a simultaneous, two-division champion.
Speaking of simultaneous, two-division champions, current women’s bantamweight and featherweight queen Amanda Nunes will put her 145-pound belt on the line against Australian challenger Megan Anderson. The Brazilian Nunes has won 11 straight inside the Octagon and will look for her second defense of the featherweight strap. A former Invicta FC champion, Anderson has won three of her last four under the UFC banner.
Rounding out the title tripleheader, bantamweight champion Petr Yan defends his title for the first time against No. 1 contender Aljamain Sterling. Yan earned the belt with a fifth-round stoppage of José Aldo last July. Sterling rides the momentum of five straight wins into his title challenge.
The event kicks off with a preliminary-card stream on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET. The action switches to ESPN for the televised prelims at 8 p.m. ET, with the five-fight main card airing at 10 p.m. ET via ESPN+ pay-per-view.
The fighters hit the scales on Friday, March 5 at 12 p.m. ET. Video of the action appears above, while the results appear below.
Amanda Nunes (145) vs. Megan Anderson (144.5) – for featherweight title
Petr Yan (135) vs. Aljamain Sterling (134.5) – for bantamweight title
Islam Makhachev (156) vs. Drew Dober (156)
Thiago Santos (206) vs. Aleksandar Rakić (206)
Song Yadong (135.5) vs. Kyler Phillips (136)
Joseph Benavidez (125.5) vs. Askar Askarov (127)*
Rogério Bontorin (126) vs. Kai Kara-France (125.5)
Kennedy Nzechukwu (205.5) vs. Carlos Ulberg (205)
Sean Brady (170.5) vs. Jake Matthews (169.5)
Livia Renata Souza (116) vs. Amanda Lemos (116)
Uros Medic (156) vs. Aalon Cruz (155)
Mario Bautista (135.5) vs. Trevin Jones (134.5)
* – Askarov missed the flyweight limit of 126 pounds