Getty Amanda Nunes and several other champs return to action in 2021.
UFC superstars Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, and Israel Adesanya have already competed in some massive megafights this year, but there are still plenty of other UFC events on the way over the remainder of 2021. The latest UFC pay-per-view schedule includes a massive heavyweight showdown to crown a new interim champ, an important battle in the featherweight ranks to finish the latest installment of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality television series, and a few other fights for UFC gold, too.
Read on for the latest and greatest UFC PPV schedule for 2021.
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UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane on August 7
UFC 265 has already been announced by the company, and the main event features an important heavyweight showdown between top-ranked contenders Derrick Lewis and Cyril Gane.
The winner of UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane will capture interim gold in the heavyweight ranks and have a direct line to facing UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for the undisputed championship.
The co-main event of UFC 265 features women’s bantamweight and featherweight champ Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes defending her 135-pound crown against Juliana Pena.
Another former champ, Jose Aldo, is set to face Pedro Munhoz in an important battle in the bantamweight ranks on the card, too.
UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane takes place on August 7 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
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UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega on September 26
UFC 266 has also been officially announced by the UFC, and it’s the culmination of the latest installment of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality television series.
In the main event, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will defend his title against Brian “T-City” Ortega.
The co-main event features women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko taking on streaking 125-pound contender Lauren Murphy.
UFC 266 will also include the return of UFC superstar Nick Diaz. Diaz is set to face former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler in a five-round special feature bout. Diaz defeated Lawler by knockout about 17 years ago at UFC 47, so UFC 266 will be a long-awaited rematch between two stars from the previous era.
Additionally, Diaz vs. Lawler 2 will be just the second time ever a UFC fight is scheduled for five rounds without being the main event or for a title.
Nate Diaz, the younger brother of Nick Diaz, competed in the first such five-round showdown at UFC 263 against Leon Edwards.
Edwards beat Nate Diaz in that five-round fight, so Nick Diaz will hope to do better against Lawler.
UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega is scheduled for September 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
UFC 267 on October 30
According to a series of tweets by Ariel Helwani, UFC 267 is set to feature two more important UFC title fights.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz is coming off a massive win over UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, and now the Polish powerhouse will hope to defend his 205-pound belt against veteran stalwart Glover Teixeira.
In the co-main event, Helwani reported that UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will face former titleholder Petr Yan in an immediate rematch.
Yan appeared to be winning his fight against Sterling at UFC 259 back in March before the Russian was disqualified in the fourth round for using an illegal knee against a downed opponent.
Now, the rematch is due with 135-pound gold up for grabs.
UFC 267 on October 30 is being targeted for Abu Dhabi.
Sterling and Yan have already started going back and forth about the rematch on social media.
More 2021 events are sure to be revealed soon.
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