This Saturday, July 2nd as the UFC celebrates the promotion’s 10th annual International Fight Week, fight fans will be treated to a stacked card that features two championship main events.
Headlining the PPV will be the trilogy between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway for the featherweight title, followed by Israel Adesanya vs Jared Cannonier for the middleweight title.
UFC middleweight title bout: Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier
Israel Adesanya will look to defend his UFC middleweight strap against number two ranked contender Jared Cannonier who is coming off two major wins against Kelvin Gastelum and Derek Brunson.
Israel Adesanya on the other hand has also reeled in two major wins against Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker, both of which were rematches for both men. Though ‘The Last Stylebender’ had an unsuccessful shot at light-heavyweight, the middleweight champ remains perfect in his division and will look to keep that trend going against ‘The Killa Gorilla’.
UFC featherweight title bout: Alex Volkanovski vs Max Holloway 3
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and number one ranked contender and former featherweight champion Max Holloway will meet for the third time.
Volkanvski defeated Holloway for the title in 2019 and followed it up with a controversial win in 2020. Since then, the Australian has successfully defended his belt against Brian Ortega and ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung.
Holloway has also won his last two outings, as he dominated Calvin Kattar in dismantling fashion, and followed it up with a fight of the year contender against Yair Rodriguez.
Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira
Number four ranked middleweight contender Sean Strickland welcomes Alex Pereira to a fight against a top 15 ranked contender in just Pereira’s third UFC showing in what could be a number one contender bout.
Since returning to the middleweight division, Strickland has racked up five wins that include Jack Hermanson and Uriah Hall and looks to add the biggest name to that hit list.
Pereira in just his third fight looks to solidify his claim to potentially meet Israel Adesanya for the third time in their professional combat careers as Pereira defeated Adesanya in a kickboxing match via knockout and then by decision in their rematch in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena
Former UFC welterweight champion ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler meets rising bruiser Bryan ‘Bam Bam’ Barberena in a welterweight bout.
Lawler got back on the winning lane with a third-round stoppage over Nick Diaz in a rematch of their 2002 bout back in September.
Barbarena looks to fight for the fourth time in the last 12 months as he looks to add his winning streak to three in a row after narrowly defeating Matt Brown earlier this year.
Pedro Munhoz vs. Sean O’Malley
The Number 8 ranked bantamweight contender Pedro Munhoz looks to get back on track coming off back-to-back losses to both Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz.
The Number 13 ranked Sean O’Malley looks to keep the momentum going with his fourth straight win after his loss to Marlon Vera in 2020 due to injury as he faces the highest-ranked opponent of his career.
Prelim fights to look for
Top 15 light heavyweights Brad Riddell and Jalin Turner look to keep their ascension up in the rankings, rising welterweight prospect Ian Garry faces off against Gabe Green, UFC veterans Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Jim Miller look to settle who will own the all-time record for most UFC wins as both men are tied for that honor, Jessica Eye faces off against Maycee Barber as both look to rise up in the flyweight rankings, Uriah Hall and Andre Munoz look to make a middleweight division statement, and Brad Tavares returns against rising contender Dricus Du Plessis also in the middleweight division looking to gain momentum up the rankings.
