It’s no secret that the days of completely stacked UFC cards are in large part a thing of the past. With TV and online broadcast deals in place the company has to deliver a certain number of events to meet the contractual requirements. This means the few superstars and budding superstars the company has will need to be used strategically and spread out over the enormous number of shows they produce each year.
Casual and semi-casual UFC fans are likely not going to recognize a large number of the names on today’s UFC fight cards. It’s just the nature of the beast. Everyone can’t be a star or household name and it takes time for talent to blossom. With UFC 241 in the books and Stipe Miocic reclaiming the heavyweight title over Daniel Cormier in the main event — and let’s not forget the epic return of Nate Diaz in the co-main event — here’s the next UFC event you are not going to want to miss.
Save the date of Sept. 7, 2019, as undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov makes his return to the octagon against interim lightweight champ Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi. Bettingonline.co.uk can point you in the right direction if you’re looking to cash in on a possible Poirier upset. However, Khabib with -355 is the heavy betting odds favorite for a reason over the underdog Poirier at +295.
Khabib boasts a remarkable 27-fight unbeaten streak and has never not had his hand raised in his 11 years as a professional mixed martial artist. In his seven years fighting for the UFC he has taken out the likes of such names as Gleison Tibau, Thiago Tavares, Abel Trujillo, Pat Healy, Rafael dos Anjos, Michael Johnson, Edson Barboza, Al Iaquinta — and of course his most recent victory over mega-superstar Conor McGregor.
Now if Poirier can survive and defend against the dominant grappling game of Khabib, then the Louisiana native has a good chance of adding Khabib to his long list of knockout victims. Poirier has knocked out some of the biggest names in the division including Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje in 2018. Poirier’s most recent victory came when he secured the interim lightweight title with a unanimous decision over current featherweight champ Max Holloway in April.
Now, the title of this article is a bit of a misnomer, because other than this UFC 242 main event between Khabib and Poirier, the rest of the card is not really screaming “buy me” at the pay-per-view box office. But the event is hosting this blockbuster title fight hence the name of the article. There are a few budding stars on the bill but frankly there’s not a lot to get excited about especially now since one has to first pay and subscribe to ESPN+ online before they can even order the pay-per-view. Welcome to UFC in 2019 where they make being an MMA fan as challenging as possible.