The Octagon is back in Canada for the first time since September 2019 with Saturday's UFC 289 -- a pay-per-view from Vancouver offering featuring arguably the greatest female fighter of all-time looking to add to her legacy.
UFC women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes makes her ninth career title defense, and the first of her second reign as bantamweight champ, when she defends against Irene Aldana in the main event.
Nunes regained the title with a dominant win over Julianna Pena in July and were scheduled to finish their trilogy tonight, but Pena was forced out due to broken ribs. Aldana stepped in on the heels of wins in four of her last five fights.
The co-main event features a pivotal lightweight bout with title shot implications as former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira takes on Beneil Dariush. Oliveira is coming off of losing the title to Islam Makhachev in October while Dariush comes into this fight riding an eight-fight win streak.
Also on the main card: Mike Malott vs. Adam Fugitt, Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr, and Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Eryk Anders. Capping off the prelims is a battle of ranked middleweights as Nassourdine Imavov takes on Chris Curtis.
ESPN PRELIMS | 7 PM ET/4 PM PT
> Women's Strawweights- Diana Belbita (14-7, 1-3 UFC) vs. Maria Oliveira (13-6, 1-2 UFC)
> Flyweights- #10 David Dvorak (20-5, 3-2 UFC) vs. Stephen Erceg (9-1, 0-0 UFC)
ESPN PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
> Featherweights- Kyle Nelson (13-5-1, 1-4-1 UFC) vs. Blake Bilder (8-0-1, 1-0 UFC)
> Bantamweights- Aiemann Zahabi (9-2, 3-2 UFC) vs. Aoriqileng (24-9, 2-2 UFC)
> Women's Flyweights- #15 Miranda Maverick (11-4, 4-2 UFC) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (8-2, 2-1 UFC)
> Middleweights- #12 Nassourdine Imavov (12-4, 4-2 UFC) vs. #14 Chris Curtis (30-10, 4-2 UFC)
ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD | 10 PM ET/7 PM PT
> Middleweights- Marc-Andre Barriault (15-6 1 NC, 4-5 1 NC UFC) vs. Eryk Anders (15-7 1 NC, 7-7 1 NC UFC)
> Featherweights- #13 Dan Ige (16-6, 8-5 UFC) vs. Nate Landwehr (17-4, 4-2 UFC)
> Welterweights- Mike Malott (9-1-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Adam Fugitt (9-3, 1-1 UFC)
> Lightweights- #1 Charles Oliveira (33-9 1 NC, 21-9 1 NC UFC) vs. #4 Beneil Dariush (22-4-1, 15-4-1 UFC)
> UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship- C Amanda Nunes (22-5, 15-2 UFC) vs. #5 Irene Aldana (14-6, 7-4 UFC)
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