UFC 245: Three Title Fights Confirmed for the Pay-Per-View

The final Pay-Per-View event of the UFC in 2019 will feature three blockbuster world championship bouts. In a highly anticipated welterweight championship grudge match, Kamaru Usman defends against No. 2 ranked contender Colby Covington.

Featherweight champion and No. 7 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Max Holloway will go for his fourth successful defense against powerhouse No. 1 contender Alexander Volkanovski. Women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion, as well as No. 5 ranked pound-for-pound fighter, Amanda Nunes looks to continue building her historic legacy as she puts her 135-pound belt on the line in a rematch with former women’s featherweight titleholder and No. 1 ranked bantamweight Germaine de Randamie.

UFC 245: USMAN vs. COVINGTON will take place Saturday, Dec. 14 at T-Mobile Arena and will stream live nationally on Pay-Per-View, exclusively through ESPN+ in the U.S. at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT in both English and Spanish.

Preliminary fights will air nationally in English on ESPN2 and on ESPN Deportes (in Spanish) starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT with the early prelims simulcast on UFC Fight Pass and ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.

Winner of The Ultimate Fighter season 21, Usman (15-1, fighting out of Dallas, Tx. by way of Auchi, Nigeria) is unbeaten since joining the UFC roster in 2015. He ascended the 170-pound ranks with impressive wins against Rafael Dos Anjos, Demian Maia and Leon Edwards, and his last outing saw him dominate Tyron Woodley to capture the welterweight championship in March. Usman now looks to take out his most heated rival to earn his first successful title defense.

Former UFC interim welterweight champion Covington (15-1, fighting out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is poised to prove he’s the best in the world at 170 pounds.

Currently riding a seven-fight win streak, the NCAA Division I All-American wrestler has netted big victories over Dos Anjos, Maia and Dong Hyun Kim, but Covington secured his most impressive win to date in his last outing against former champion Robbie Lawler in August. He now aims to settle the score with Usman and take home the welterweight championship.

Among the most dominant champions on the UFC roster, Holloway (21-4, fighting out of Waianae, Hawaii) has beaten the who’s who of the featherweight division.

Over the course of his career, he’s scored dominant wins over former UFC title holders Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo (twice) and Anthony Pettis, as well as top contender Brian Ortega. The Hawaiian now looks to take out one of the division’s most dangerous contenders for his fourth successful title defense.

Unbeaten for over six years, Volkanovski (20-1, fighting out of Windang, New South Wales, Australia) aims to be the next Australian athlete to capture a world championship.

The former rugby player has been on a tear since joining the UFC roster in late 2016, securing impressive victories over Aldo, Chad Mendes, Darren Elkins, Jeremy Kennedy and Mizuto Hirota. Volkanovski now has his sights on dethroning Holloway to hand the Hawaiian his first featherweight loss since 2013.

The greatest women’s fighter in mixed martial arts history, Nunes (18-4, fighting out of Coral Springs, Fla. by way of Bahia, Brazil) won her first encounter with De Randamie via TKO in 2013.

Her resume also includes first-round stoppage wins over former bantamweight champions Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Holly Holm. Nunes also became the first female two-division titleholder in UFC history last December with a 51-second KO victory against Cris Cyborg. She now hopes to etch her fifth bantamweight title defense in dominant fashion.

Former UFC featherweight champion De Randamie (9-3, fighting out of Utrecht, The Netherlands) is gunning for a measure of revenge against Nunes.

Since that loss, she has won five straight with dominant victories over Raquel Pennington, Holly Holm and Larissa Pacheco. In July, De Randamie delivered a spectacular 16-second TKO win against Aspen Ladd. She now aims to become the second woman to win UFC championships in two divisions by handing Nunes her first loss in over five years.

Additional bouts on the card include:

• Perennial fan favorite Matt Brown (23-16, fighting out of Denver, Colo.) returns against dangerous Ben Saunders (22-12, fighting out of Orlando, Fla.) in an exciting welterweight bout
• Recent flyweight title challenger and No. 2 ranked contender Jessica Eye (14-7, fighting out of Cleveland, Oh.) takes on rising No. 6 Viviane Araujo (8-1, fighting out of Brasilia, Brazil)
• In a clash of flyweight contenders, No. 6 ranked Brandon Moreno (14-5-1, fighting out of Tijuana, Mexico) faces No. 7 Kai Kara France (20-7-1, fighting out of Auckland, New Zealand)
• Undefeated Dana White’s Contender Series signee Punahele Soriano (6-0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) debuts against Oskar Piechota (11-2-1, fighting out of Gdynia, Poland)

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