UFC 245 Boasts One of the Most Loaded Fight Cards in History

Covington Usman UFC 245 Fight Card

Getty Colby Covington headlines the loaded UFC 245 fight card.

Featuring six current or former UFC Champions, the UFC 245 fight card is loaded from top to bottom with icons of the sport. From one of the UFC’s most dominant former champions ever in Jose Aldo to the exciting new king of the welterweights, Kamaru Usman, UFC 245 features at least one household name in every single fight.

Even the sole matchup to not feature a current or former champion, Urijah Faber vs. Petr Yan, boasts an exciting storyline of MMA legend against one of the sport’s most exciting up and comers.

An astounding three title fights are scheduled for the night. Kamaru Usman gets his first shot at defending the welterweight belt in the main event and takes on Colby Covington while Max Holloway defends his featherweight crown against the surging Alexander Volkonovski in the co-main event.

Despite not being listed either the main event or co-main event, women’s pound-for-pound queen Amanda Nunes is also on the card and looks to solidify her spot as the most fearsome women’s MMA fighter with a second career win over Germaine de Randamie.

UFC 245 takes place Saturday, December 14 at 10 p.m. ET in Las Vegas. It will air as a pay-per-view on ESPN+.

Order UFC 245 Now


There’s Some Bad Blood Between Kamaru Usman & Colby Covington

After snatching the belt from longtime welterweight king Tyron Woodley in his last fight, Kamaru Usman takes on former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington in his first-ever defense of the belt. Usman picked up a scarily dominant win over Woodley and showed off a much-improved stand-up game to go with his dominant wrestling.

Covington, on the other hand, is looking for redemption after having his interim title belt stripped by the UFC. Forced to pull out of a title eliminator with former champion Woodley due to nasal surgery, the UFC opted to relieve Covington of his belt and instead gave the shot to Usman – who promptly won. This has led to some bad blood between the two fighters with Covington using the passing of Blackzilians founder Glenn Robinson (the gym where Usman trains) as fodder for trash talk leading up to their showdown.

Covington hasn’t lost since winning the interim belt over Rafael dos Anjos, and although he has only fought once in the past year, his win was an impressive showing over UFC legend Robbie Lawler in which he set a UFC record for the most strikes thrown in a fight.


Max Holloway Defends His Crown Against the Dangerous Alexander Volkonovski

UFC’s brightest featherweight prospect meets up with one of the division’s most storied champions in the second title fight of the night at UFC 245. Despite falling short against Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title, Max Holloway returned to featherweight and got right back to his winning ways against Frankie Edgar.

However, Holloway should have his hands full with Alexander Volkanovski. Undefeated in his UFC career, Volkanovski is coming off a pair of career-defining wins over Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo. A ferocious power-puncher at 145 pounds with one of the stronger wrestling backgrounds in the division, Volkanovski has a pressuring style that is tailor-made to give Holloway trouble.

UFC 245 airs December 14 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+. You can order it here.


Amanda Nunes Has Big Plans if She Can Beat Germaine De Randamie

Amanda Nunes is in a league of her own when it comes to the female divisions in the UFC. The promotion’s fifth-ranked pound-for-pound fighter and the only woman ranked in the top 10, Nunes is by far the most dominant force in women’s MMA. While she previously picked up a win over Germaine de Randamie back in 2013, Nunes has a chance to open the door for the biggest super-fight in female combat sports history should she win at UFC 245.

Women’s boxing phenom Claressa Shields, the proud owner of a 77-1 amateur record to go with a perfect 9-0 record as a pro, has expressed interest in setting up a fight with Nunes should each of the women win their next fight. Should Nunes get past Randamie at 245, it seems the only thing standing in the way would be a Shields win in her next fight on January 10th.

While Nunes is widely expected to beat Randamie again, Randamie hasn’t lost since the two last met – though she did make headlines after being stripped of her featherweight belt due to her unwillingness to fight Cris Cyborg.


Jose Aldo Looks for New Lease on Life at Bantamweight Against Marlon Moraes

Yet another former champion graces the card at UFC 245 as former pound-for-pound darling Jose Aldo tries his hand at redemption against Marlon Moraes. Aldo is making the move down to bantamweight from his longtime throne at featherweight and it should be interesting to see how both his power and cardio hold up with the bigger weight cut.

Aldo won’t be getting a tune-up fight by any means though. Moraes is a former WSOF bantamweight champion and had a crack at UFC gold against Henry Cejudo in his last fight. While Moraes came up short against Cejudo, the crafty veteran has a well-rounded arsenal and is more than capable of taking advantage of Aldo’s likely uncertainty surrounding fighting at a new weight.


Urijah Faber Welcomes Petr Yan to Featherweight Division’s Elite

Despite being the only fight of the night to not feature a current or former UFC champion, the first fight of the main card features arguably the biggest draw in UFC history to never win a belt. Urijah Faber, the California Kid, was largely responsible for putting MMA’s smaller weight classes on the map. Coming onto the scene in 2003 and winning his first WEC belt in 2006, Faber would defend the belt six times and was the first breakout star in a weight class below 155 pounds. The success of Faber, in particular, was a large reason as to why the UFC wound up buying and absorbing the WEC.

Unfortunately for Faber, the veteran won’t be getting a cupcake matchup and instead faces off with one of the division’s most exciting up and comers. Petr Yan has yet to lose a UFC bout since joining the promotion in 2018 and boasts some heavy hands to go with a rapidly improving ground game. With the potential to become one of the division’s next stars, Faber is the perfect step-up in competition to see if Yan is ready for the upper echelon of the division.

UFC 245 airs December 14 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+. You can order it here.

Read More
, ,