By Josh Lynnes
LAS VEGAS, NV – An MMA legend returns as UFC 266 hits T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Saturday night. Perennial fan favorite Nick Diaz makes his return to the octagon after more than 6 years since his last fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 183. Diaz faces Robbie Lawler at middleweight in a rematch that’s been 17 years in the making. Diaz won the first meeting in April of 2004 by second round knockout.
Headlining the event is a featherweight title match-up between the coaches of the recent season of the Ultimate Fighter series, champion Alexander Volkanovski takes on challenger Brian Ortega. The stint on the Ultimate Fighter created some animosity between the two combatants with the champ calling Ortega “unprofessional” because of constantly being late.
The co-main event features one of the best in the business flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in her sixth title defense facing Lauren Murphy who is riding a 5-fight win streak.
Rounding out the main card is a match-up of heavyweight contenders sixth ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik battles fourth ranked Curtis Blaydes. Cynthia Calvillo faces former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade in a clash of top 5 flyweights.
Fighting on the prelims Marlon Moraes faces Merab Dvalisvili in a match-up of top 15 bantamweights. Dan Hooker faces Nasrat Haqparast in a lightweight bout that nearly didn’t happen due to both fighters having delays in being able to travel to Las Vegas. Shamil Abdurakhimov and Chris Daukaus will throw down in a battle of top 10 heavyweights. Roxanne Modafferi steps into the octagon for her record tying 44th professional women’s MMA fight as she squares off against Taila Santos at flyweight.
Early prelims include:
Featherweight – Jonathan Pearce vs. Omar Morales
Welterweight – Matthew Semelsberger vs. Martin Sano
Middleweight – Cody Brundage vs. Nick Maximov
Lightweight – Uros Medic vs. Jalin Turner
Early prelims start at 5:00PM CDT on UFC Fight Pass. Action then shifts to ESPNNEWS and ESPN+ at 7:00PM followed by the pay-per-view main card at 9:00PM on ESPN+ PPV.
