Last night, it was reported that the UFC wanted to have two massive fight fights for a second March PPV. However, neither fight was finalized and neither fight was relatively close to being finalized as of last night.
That has changed today. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani was first to report that the UFC has finalized the featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski (22-1) and Brian Ortega (15-1, 1 NC). The fight will take place at UFC 260 on March 27th.
For Alexander Volkanovski, this title defense will feel more like a redemption. While there’s no questioning how good the UFC featherweight champion is, it feels like he has something to prove heading into his March title defense.
Volkanovski dethroned Max Holloway (21-6) in December of 2019. Nobody questioned who won that fight. However, the two ran things back at UFC 251 and the majority of people believe that Holloway won the rematch. While Volkanovski walked away with the title, he lost support as champion.
That said, he will have his chance to really prove he’s the best in March. If he’s able to come out and put on a dominant performance, it will shut up all of the doubters who are saying that he’s walking around with Holloway’s title.
UFC 260’s featherweight title fight
That said, Volkanovski is going to have his hands full at UFC 260. In my opinion, the Brian Ortega that we saw in October against Chan Sung Jung looked like the best featherweight on the planet.
Ortega was crisp in his striking and he didn’t even have to go to the ground where we know he excels. The questions surrounding Ortega have always been around how good his striking was.
Yes, he knocked out Frankie Edgar, but he was lit up by Max Holloway. After nearly two years off due to injuries, Ortega came back looking like a new fighter. His striking looked better than ever and he might be the best featherweight in the UFC.
Well, he’s going to get his chance to prove it on March 27th. This is such a fantastic matchup and as of now the plan is for it to serve as the co-main event of the preview. The promotion is still working on finalizing the main event.