UFC 264 will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday July 11 and is headlined by a Lightweight trilogy fight between the biggest drawcard in the sport Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.
The score is tied at one a piece with Poirier winning by TKO just five months ago.
McGregor fight’s hold six of the top seven UFC PPV Events of all time and it is very possible that this could top them all.
Conor McGregor has spent just 192 seconds inside the octagon in the past 26 months but the stakes couldn’t be much higher for the former champion of two separate weight classes.
The winner will get a shot at the UFC Lightweight strap.
The Co-Main event comes in a stacked Welterweight division between two genuine challengers to Kamaru Usman in Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns.
Aussie Tai ‘Bam Bam’ Tuivasa will stand and trade with ex NFL player Greg Hardy on the main card and there are is plenty of other fights to look forward to as well.
Our full UFC 264 Preview – Poirier v McGregor 3, covering every fight on the Main Card, as well as our betting suggestions, can be found here.
UFC 264 Main Card
Sunday, July 11
MAIN EVENT
The big question leading into the second fight between these two was just who had taken bigger steps forward since their first fight back in 2014.
And we got the answer as Poirier finished McGregor inside two rounds.
McGregor was on top of the world when he became the first UFC fighter to simultaneously hold belts in two separate weight divisions back in November 2016 but it has not all gone to plan since then.
Since that massive achievement, the Irishman has done most of his fighting outside of the octagon, including smashing bus windows, a money grabbing boxing endeavor and an old man who preferred a lager to his famous whiskey.
He has lost two of his last three fights yet here he is in a title eliminator fight, which really is testament to his label of the best prize fighter that the sport has ever seen.
Dustin Poirier has gone from strength to strength since he lost to McGregor and his move to Lightweight proved a crucial decision.
Poirier has lost just twice in 14 subsequent fights since his first encounter with Conor McGregor back in 2014. McGregor is 6:3 since that same fight.
There is no blaming Poirier for passing on a certain title shot to grab the cash that is available in fighting McGregor a third time and his form is extraordinary leading into the trilogy.
Seven of his last eight fights have been against former UFC Champions, losing just once to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
This includes wins over Max Holloway, Anthony Pettis and Eddie Alverez.
The fight changed when Poirier landed significant strikes to the lead leg of McGregor in the last encounter and is just one of the many threats that Poirier possesses to McGregor.
Conor will need to develop something new in order to win this fight.
We will find out come Sunday whether it will be enough.
3 Units Dustin Poirier To Win @ $1.80
CO-MAIN EVENT
The Co-Main Event at UFC 264 is an absolutely cracker of a scrap with two of the top contenders at Welterweight.
Gilbert Burns looked a real threat to champion Kamaru Usman in his last fight and while he had his moments early in his title fight, he ultimately fell short via TKO in the third round.
There is no real shame in losing to Usman who is one of the most dominant champions, along with Israel Adesanya at Middleweight, and I am of the opinion that Burns will get another crack in the future.
Burns is a second degree black belt in BJJ and his ground game is some of the best in the entire sport but he possesses a lot of power when the fight is standing as well.
Stephen Thompson is an unorthodox striker who won his eight of his first nine fights in the UFC, setting up a title fight with then champion Tyron Woodley.
He was to have two cracks at the UFC Welterweight Title, the first a majority draw and then second a razor thin decision loss back in March 2017.
He has won three of his last eight fights heading into this contest and suffered his first KO loss to Anthony Pettis via a superman punch in March 2019.
The No. 4 ranked Welterweight has fought just once since November 2019 and at 38 years of age I wonder if his best is past him.
I’m struggling to understand why he heads into this fight as the favourite and Burns is the more obvious pick for mine.
4 Units Gilbert Burns @ $2.30
MAIN CARD
A change of gym and scenery seems to have done ‘Bam Bam’ Tuivasa wonders and he heads into this Heavyweight fight against Greg Hardy off the back of impressive back to back first round finishes.
The Aussie needed to change something after three losses in a row and this looks a really good match up for him as he attempts to ascend the heavyweight ranking yet again.
Former NFL player Greg Hardy certainly packs a punch but his cardio has been a huge issue during his short 11 fight career to date.
He has two wins from his last four leading into this fight as these two big boys stand toe to toe at UFC 264.
Tai Tuivasa has too many weapons at his disposal and if he can get through the opening minutes of the fight, he can overwhelm Hardy in the later rounds to get a late stoppage.
2 Units Tuivasa To Win In Round 3 or by Decision @ $3.70
Ketlan comes into this Women’s Bantamweight contest with a record of 12 wins and six losses and a chance to climb back up the rankings.
Back to back wins against Vanessa Melo and a first round one-punch KO against Ketlan Viera was followed by a unanimous decision loss to Holly Holm in October last year.
Yana Kunitskaya has managed four wins from her last five fights including a win over Ketlan Viera as well earlier this year.
Kunitskaya does not possess the power that Aldana does and all four of those wins needed the judges decision.
She puts an enormous amount of pressure on her opponents during her fights and has the gas tank to outwork Aldana in this fight and if she can avoid the big shots, she gets it done again via decision or late finish.
2 Units Yana Kunitskaya @ $1.98
Sean O’Malley is one of the most exciting prospects in the entire UFC promotion and aside from a loss to Marlon Vera where his leg was compromised (due to a vicious leg kick) he is undefeated in his professional MMA career.
Nine of his 13 wins have come in the first round and he is a fighter that is not afraid to throw highlight reel pucnhes and kicks all throughout his fights.
He has come under some scrutiny for the quality of opponents he is facing but it is clear the UFC are trying to continue to build hype around a bit of a cash cow in terms of numbers and potential.
And he can only beat what is put in front of him.
This fight was supposed to be against Luis Smolka but he pulled out sure to injury.
I can see another highlight reel finish coming…
5 Units Sean O’Malley by KO/TKO Or Submission @ $1.46
PRELIMS