International Fight Week to feature Hall of Fame festivities, stacked UFC 266 card

After last Saturday’s dominant, submission victory for Anthony Smith over Ryan Spann, at UFC Vegas 37, the MMA world is laser focused on International Fight Week.

The festivities ramp up Thursday, Sept. 23 with the 2020 Hall of Fame classes’ long-awaited induction. The class includes former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre going into the modern era wing. In the pioneer wing, former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman will finally get his due. Randleman tragically passed away at age 44 in 2016. Randleman’s cause of death was determined to be heart failure due to complications with pneumonia.

The first meeting between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, in 2013 at UFC 165, was an instant classic. Their absolute war will be honored in the UFC Hall of Fame fight wing. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is just an appetizer to the main course, UFC 266. The Saturday, Sept. 25 fight card is filled to the brim with exciting fights.

If there were a theme for UFC 266, it would be “worth the wait.” The main event featherweight title bout between Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski and Brian “T City” Ortega has been almost five months in the making. The bout was originally scheduled for UFC 260 on March 27. Due to a positive COVID-19 test, Volkanovski was forced to pull out of the fight. The Ultimate Fighting Championship pounced on the opportunity to make the two men the coaches for the return of the UFC ‘s reality series The Ultimate Fighter for its 29th season.

During the season, the relationship between the coaches worsened. Volkanovski took issue with Ortega’s brash personality, saying “He’s a sensitive little pansy.” Another challenge for Volkanovski is his native Australia dealing with another COVID surge and subsequent lockdown. Volkanovski had to ask for clearance from the Australian government to be able to train for this fight. Even with all the obstacles, Volkanovski believes he is ready for a five-round war.

Stepping into the octagon, the main event features two of the most well rounded fighters in the UFC today. While Saturday is Volkanovski’s first main event appearance, the Australian is no stranger to the championship challenge. Volkanovski has notched consecutive wins over Max Holloway, one of the best featherweights in the UFC. The most recent victory coming in July 2020 at UFC 251. Volkanovski has rolled to a 22-1 overall record with 11 knockouts and three submission victories. Volkanovski is going for his 20th straight MMA win Saturday night.

Ortega, with his submissions, will present a difficult challenge to Volkanovski. Ortega has amassed seven submission victories and three knockouts in 15 victories overall. Although Ortega is a Brazilian Jujitsu practitioner, the California native has shown improved striking recently. Ortega finished with a knockout victory over “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung in October 2020 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. The question becomes just how much has his striking has improved?

At this moment, it seems Volkanovski has the advantage in the standup. Volkanovski lands an average of six significant strikes per minute compared to Ortega’s four. Volkanovski is also highly accurate in his is striking, landing at a 58% clip compared to Ortega’s 39%. Look for Volkanovski to use his kicks to open up striking opportunities. Conversely, look for Ortega to try to get the fight to the ground quickly and seek a submission victory.

The featherweight championship clash is truly a toss-up. It should be an exciting fight to watch. Volkanovski declared, “Just winning is not an option.” It is clear that he wants to provide some early fireworks and retain his belt.

The co-main event, the first of two title fights Saturday night, takes place in the women’s flyweight division. Arguably the greatest female fighter of all time, Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko makes her return to the octagon versus Lauren Murphy. Shevchenco is currently on a seven-fight win streak, highlighted by a vicious head kick that knocked Jessica Eye out cold at UFC 238 in June 2019. At UFC 261 in April of this year, Jessica Andrade believed she had the advantage in the wrestling department versus Shevchenco. However, “The Bullet” dominated Andrade at every turn, landing seven takedowns of her own in route to a victory. Shevchenko, an assassin in the octagon, is looking for her 22nd MMA win Saturday night. Lauren Murphy was confident in stating “I’m gonna take it to her.” File this under things that are in the easy to say, but extremely hard to do category.

Murphy is a comeback story if there ever was one. Prior to entering the UFC, Murphy dealt with some alcohol and drug issues. Murphy said previously that fighting saved her life. Murphy has been on the ride of her life to this point, with a five fight win streak coming into Saturday night. Murphy is searching for her 16th MMA win. It will no doubt be a tall task. With eight knockouts out of her 15 wins, look for Murphy to try and stand and trade with Shevchenko. If Murphy can pull off the upset over Shevchenko, it would effectively flip the MMA world on its axis. MMA fans have been waiting for someone to challenge Shevchenko. Will Murphy be the one to make it tough on Shevchenko?

Also on the main card, a rematch nearly 17 years in the making takes place in the middleweight division, as the octagon door locks behind Nick Diaz and ruthless Robbie Lawler. This will only be the second time, in UFC history, that a non-main event fight has been scheduled for five rounds.

In their first meeting, in April 2004, Diaz secured a knockout victory after a back-and-forth war. Throughout his career, Diaz has used his tremendous gas tank and unique striking style, as well as his elite Brazilian jujitsu skills, in route to 26 MMA wins. For Diaz, since his last win in 2011, versus UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn, things have not gone well. The Stockton, Calif., native is currently on a 2-fight losing streak, with losses to Georges St-Pierre and the recently retired Carlos Condit. Diaz’s last fight came in 2015 in a no contest with Anderson Silva. Following the Silva fight, Diaz tested positive for marijuana for the third time, resulting in a five-year suspension.

In his return, Diaz faces a tough draw in Robbie Lawler. Lawler is known for his knockout power with 20 knockout victories in 28 wins overall. Lawler captured the welterweight title in 2014 with a win over Johnny Hendricks. Lawler’s last and most impressive knockout came in July 2015 at UFC 189, after a classic versus Rory McDonald. Lawler left the octagon with his lip split wide open and the belt around his waist.

Since then, Lawler has been a shell of himself losing his last four fights, including lopsided losses at the hands of Neil Magny and welterweight title challenger Colby Covington. Coming into Saturday night, Lawler likely has his job on the line. While the outcome is unclear, one thing is for sure this clash between legends will be exciting and the Diaz Army will be thrilled to have their General back.

Heavyweights Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik add another exciting fight to the main card. Both men are looking to rebound from losses their last time out. Look for Blaydes, a former wrestler at Northern Illinois, to use his wrestling to neutralize Rozenstruik’s power. With 11 of his 12 wins coming by knockout, Rozenstruik has proven to be dangerous with his hands.

The main card opener features a very intriguing top-five title contender matchup between Jessica Andrade and Cynthia Calvillo. Both women are working towards a title fight.

On the prelims, the matchup between Merab Dvalishvili and former title challenger Marlon Moraes, in the bantamweight division, promises to provide fireworks. Both men have elite speed and a willingness to move forward and strike. Under the direction of head coach Ray Lango, with a win Dvalishvili is poised for a possible title shot.

In a wild sequence of events, Australian striker Dan Hooker will make his return to the octagon on the prelims despite having Visa trouble.

UFC fans can catch this action packed card on the ESPN family of networks starting at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN Plus with the early prelims. The prelims will air on ESPN News at 8 p.m. The main card will be on ESPN Plus pay-per-view at 10 p.m.