ABU DHABI — The UFC has two title fights on tap as it returns to Abu Dhabi for a second event in 2021.
Light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz (28-8), of Poland, will seek to defend his belt against Brazil’s Glover Teixeira (32-7). Blachowicz won the title in September 2020 with a knockout victory over Dominick Reyes, then defended the belt against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya earlier this year. He has won nine of his past 10 fights.
Teixeira is arguably turning in the best performances of his career at age 42. This is his second shot at the UFC light heavyweight title, with a loss to Jon Jones in 2014 well in his past. It will be 2,744 days in between title shots for Teixeira, who is determined not to let this opportunity slip away.
In the co-main event, former champion Petr Yan (15-2) faces Cory Sandhagen (14-3) for the interim bantamweight championship. Yan lost the bantamweight title to Aljamain Sterling and was expecting a rematch at UFC 267, but Sterling was removed from the card due to injury. Sandhagen is coming off a loss to former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw but had made his name as a top challenger in the division since 2019.
Also on the card, lightweight title contender Islam Makhachev (20-1) will face Dan Hooker (21-10) and welterweight Khamzat Chimaev (9-0) will make his first appearance of 2021, against Li Jingliang (18-6).
Follow along with Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim as they recap all the action and/or watch the fights on ESPN+.
Fight in progress: Men’s flyweight: Tagir Ulanbekov (13-1, 1-0 UFC, -370) vs. Allan Nascimento (17-5, 0-0 UFC, +290)
Still to come:
Light heavyweight championship: Jan Blachowicz (c) (28-8, 11-5 UFC, -300) vs. Glover Teixeira (32-7. 15-5 UFC, +240)
Men’s bantamweight interim championship: Petr Yan (15-2, 7-1 UFC, -220) vs. Cory Sandhagen (14-3, 7-2 UFC, +180)
Lightweight: Islam Makhachev (20-1, 9-1 UFC, -625) vs. Dan Hooker (21-10, 11-6 UFC, +450)
Heavyweight: Alexander Volkov (33-9, 7-3 UFC, -300) vs. Marcin Tybura (22-6, 9-5 UFC, +240)
Welterweight: Li Jingliang (18-6, 10-4 UFC, +425) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (9-0, 3-0 UFC, -575)
Light heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev (15-1, 6-1 UFC, -310) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (17-5, 5-4 UFC, +250)
Strawweight: Amanda Ribas (10-2, 4-1 UFC, -160) vs. Virna Jandiroba (17-2, 3-2 UFC, +135)
Men’s featherweight: Ricardo Ramos (15-3, 6-2 UFC, +145) vs. Zubaira Tukhugov (19-5-1, 4-2-1 UFC, -170)
Middleweight: Albert Duraev (14-3, 0-0 UFC, -360) vs. Roman Kopylov (8-1, 1-1 UFC, +280)
Welterweight: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (22-7, 8-3 UFC, -230) vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (8-0, 0-0 UFC, +190)
Light heavyweight: Michal Oleksiejczuk (15-4 1 NC, 3-2 1 NC UFC, +105) vs. Shamil Gamzatov (14-0, 1-0 UFC, -125)
Men’s featherweight: Makwan Amirkhani (16-6, 6-4 UFC, +250) vs. Lerone Murphy (10-0-1, 2-0-1 UFC, -310)
Middleweight: Hu Yaozong (3-1, 0-2 UFC, +190) vs. Andre Petroski (6-2, 1-0 UFC, -230)
(c) = defending champion