The UFC has a knack for putting the biggest, best, and the fights that people want to see on their pay-per-view cards, and the consistency of this should be commended. When a fight fan purchases a numbered UFC card, they’ll, more often than not, enjoy a scrappy batch of undercard bouts that features up-and-coming stars and close contests, topped by one or two main events that can truly shape the storylines surrounding the rankings.
Now, there are two major events on the horizon. At UFC 264, fan-favourite and world-class self-promoter Conor McGregor will fight Dustin Poirier for the third time on 10 July. Then, on 7 August at UFC 265, perhaps the greatest fighter in the current landscape of the UFC, Amanda Nunes, will look to add another win to her near-impeccable legacy by ousting the upstart Julianna Peña.
For very different reasons, these are colossal events for the UFC, particularly at a time when the promotion is actively looking to return to the heights of mid-2020, as detailed by Yahoo! Sports.
UFC 264: A rivalry fight fans can’t get enough of
Conor McGregor vs Duston Poirier III isn’t a title fight, and yet it’ll be promoted to a greater degree, feel as though it has as much on the line, and even get more viewers than many belt bouts. The saga itself began at UFC 178, with McGregor’s striking prowess being in full force to win within the first round. At UFC 257, Poirier got his revenge, cornering the Irishman to deliver an unstoppable wave of combination punches to triumph.
Now, the trilogy fight is set, with UFC 64 taking place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on 10 July 2021. The lightweight clash will mark the first time that either fighter has stepped into the octagon since the second bout in the saga at UFC 257, back in January of this year. With the series split one apiece, interest is at an all-time high for the third battle, with fans around the world looking to get in on the action.
Not only will MMA fans relentlessly flock to watch McGregor, but the fact that the series is split 1-1 is even getting the more neutral and outside fans interested. Across most countries in the world, from the UK to Asia to the US and Canada, fans can find licensed and legal betting sites through SBO. With the help of the easy-to-follow guides, they’ll be able to explore deep betting markets for this colossal event, as the top bookmakers will be going all-out to provide bettors with all odds imaginable.
The personalities involved, storyline, and tough-to-call nature is one thing that helps to raise the prestige of the fight and the UFC further, but so too are the potential ratings. The second bout between these two was thought to have become the second-highest selling PPV in UFC history at over 1.6 million. Not only does this third fight have more hype, but it also has the key factor: McGregor. Still the biggest-selling PPV in the promotion’s history is UFC 229, which saw McGregor annihilated by long-time rival Khabib Nurmagomedov in front of 2.4 million buyers.
UFC 265: A fighter worthy of every MMA enthusiast
Conor McGregor and the current men’s pound-for-pound number one, Jon Jones, are big on self-promoting and only coming out for the big contests, so what makes Amanda Nunes stand out is that she almost exclusively does all of her talking in the octagon. Usually a very calm person with a few fairly standard ripostes to what others throw her way, Nunes has become one of the best fighters of all time by beating everyone.
That’s not an understatement, either. The first-ever women’s champion in the UFC was Ronda Rousey, who Nunes sent into retirement in her eighth UFC bout. Along with Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko, Cris ‘Cyborg,’ Holly Holm, Germaine de Randamie, and Megan Anderson have all fallen by the wayside to the Brazilian becoming a two-weight champion. However, many argue that Nunes doesn’t get the coverage, promotion, positioning, and hype that she deserves and is so willingly thrown to the likes of McGregor.
Part of this may be down to her demeanour, being a calm, collected, and self-assured fighter who simply doesn’t need to verbally spar with anyone before a fight. For example, in the running to UFC 265, Julianna Peña continued to call her out, and all that Nunes has done so far is accept the fight being put together, say that she’s happy that the Peruvian’s noise worked, and said that she’ll win by submission. However, the champ continues to deliver the highlight-reel, brutal knockouts that the UFC thrives on.
So, at UFC 265, we’ll be treated to a very close main event that features one of the biggest draws of the promotion. Then, at UFC 266, we’ll get to see the woman cementing herself as the greatest female fighter and easily one of the best-ever mixed martial artists known to the sport. Should Nunes lose, however, the hype train might just arrive for the rematch.