Author: Dan Hiergesell

To stream UFC 266 LIVE on ESPN+ PPV click here!

The return of Nick Diaz is arguably overshadowing the two title fights atop the UFC 266 marquee later tonight (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s a testament to Diaz’s long-lasting popularity among hardcore fight fans everywhere.

Diaz, who will meet Robbie Lawler in a five-round middleweight fight on the PPV main card, is making his first Octagon appearance since Jan. 2015 when he fought Anderson Silva. That was nearly seven years ago. Diaz is now 38 years of age and trying to roll back the clock to make one more run at UFC gold.

While Diaz has already given fight fans cause for concern with his recent shadowboxing video and pre-fight demeanor, there’s still a really good chance the Stockton native shows up and dominates Lawler like he did 17 years ago at UFC 47. We just won’t know until the cage door shuts tonight at UFC 266 in “Sin City.”

But when exactly can fight fans expect Diaz to make his first walk to the cage in over six years?

With two other fights ahead of Diaz vs. Lawler 2 on the UFC 266 PPV main card beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET, Diaz isn’t likely to make his walk anytime before 11:00 p.m. ET. Most likely, the former Strikeforce welterweight champion will be touching gloves with “Ruthless” ready to fight sometime around 11:05 p.m. ET. Of course, that is subject to change pending any quick finishes to spark the UFC 266 PPV main card.

If things run late (or early) Mania will be sure to provide an updated start time for tonight’s Diaz vs. Lawler 2 middleweight matchup. You won’t want to miss it!

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 266 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White is not worried about Nick Diaz’s pre-fight demeanor ahead of his long-awaited comeback fight tonight (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) at UFC 266 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In fact, White believes Diaz is taking a page out of the great Mike Tyson’s book.

Diaz, 38, hasn’t competed under the UFC banner since a fight with Anderson Silva nearly seven years ago. The Stockton native has been away from the fight game ever since and it has left fight fans to wonder what the veteran has left in the tank so many years later. Diaz hasn’t helped ease concerns by confessing he doesn’t know why he’s fighting.

That would usually raise a red flag for any other fighter in the sport today, but Diaz is a different animal when it comes to fight week and the fight game as a whole.

“The mainstream media doesn’t know Nick Diaz like we know Nick Diaz,” White told reporters on Friday (via ESPN MMA). “You never know what to expect when you walk into fight week with Nick.

“I was expecting anything was possible. I didn’t know if he was going to show up to any of this stuff or what he was going to do. But like I always say about the Diaz bothers you know they’re going to show up on Saturday and you know they’re going to fight.”

White, who has been around the fight game for a very long time and has seen this type of behavior from Diaz before, is chalking it all up to a state of mind that the Stockton fighter puts himself in. It’s something that reminds White of Tyson and how the former heavyweight champion used to conduct himself leading up to a boxing match.

“When you talk to him he’s very Tyson-eque. He reminds me of Tyson,” said White. “When you talk to Tyson and when Tyson is not in the right mood he’ll tell you all the things that he hates about fighting. When he’s in the right mood he’ll tell you all the things that he loves about fighting. He has this love-hate relationship with the fight game like Mike does. They’re very similar in the way that they speak and if you catch them in the right mood.”

Luckily, Diaz will have his chance to prove his worth later tonight when he takes on Robbie Lawler in a five-round middleweight bout on the UFC 266 PPV main card. The two fighters first met back at UFC 47 in 2004 and Diaz ended up winning that bout via second-round knockout. We’ll have to wait and see if Diaz can duplicate those results 17 years later.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 266 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

The wait is finally over as UFC 266 sets sail later tonight (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Alexander Volkanovski defending his UFC featherweight title in the main event against growing rival Brian Ortega.

In addition to the 145-pound headliner, reigning UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will put her title on the line against Lauren Murphy in co-main event action, and MMA legend Nick Diaz will return after a six-year hiatus to run things back with Robbie Lawler in a five-round middleweight fight. Not to mention the “Prelims” barn burner between lightweight contenders Dan Hooker and Nasrat Haqparast, which almost didn’t happen.

Take a look below at UFC 266’s complete fight card line up and start times:

Main Card (ESPN+ PPV)
10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT

Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Lauren Murphy
Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler
Curtis Blaydes vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Jessica Andrade vs. Cynthia Calvillo

‘Prelims’ Undercard (ESPN News/ESPN+)
8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT

Marlon Moraes vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Dan Hooker vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Chris Daukaus
Roxanne Modafferi vs. Taila Santos

Early ‘Prelims’ Undercard (Fight Pass/ESPN+)
6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT

Uros Medic vs. Jalin Turner
Cody Brundage vs. Nick Maximov
Matthew Semelsberger vs. Martin Sano Jr.
Jonathan Pearce vs. Omar Morales

Online

• UFC 266: “Volkanovski vs. Ortega” PPV main card can be viewed via the ESPN+ streaming app.
• Subscriptions cost $5.99 per month. The UFC 266 PPV will cost $69.99 for current subscribers.
• UFC 266: “Volkanovski vs. Ortega” undercard “Prelims” can be viewed via ESPN+ as well.

Television

• UFC 266: “Volkanovski vs. Ortega” undercard “Prelims” can be viewed via ESPN News. Check your local providers or click for instant access to ESPN.
• UFC 266: “Volkanovski vs. Ortega” can also be streamed via Xbox One, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and ChromeCast.

Tablet/Mobile

• UFC 266: “Volkanovski vs. Ortega” PPV main card and undercard “Prelims” can be viewed via ESPN+ streaming app through Google Play and iTunes stores.

Bars

• Stay home, be safe. But if you really, really need to go out and watch UFC 266 there is a list of bars near you airing “Volkanovski vs. Ortega” right here.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 266 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Jones’ next court date is currently scheduled for Oct. 26, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jon Jones will not be appearing in front of a Las Vegas court judge this afternoon (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) as was previously reported. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion is no longer in custody after posting bail and is not due back for his court date until Oct. 26, 2021.

This is according to a recent report by ESPN’s Marc Raimondi (shown below), who spoke with court officials earlier today. Jones had been arrested early Friday morning and booked for misdemeanor battery domestic violence, as well as injuring and tampering with a vehicle. He was expected to appear in front of a court judge this afternoon.

“Jon Jones will not be appearing in court in Las Vegas this afternoon as expected, per a court official. Jones posted bail Friday evening and is no longer in custody. His next court date is Oct. 26, a status check on the filing of a potential criminal complaint against him.”

In addition, a judge will be reviewing Jones’ case in detail to determine if the DNA collected from “Bones” on Friday morning will be kept or not.

“This afternoon, a judge will review Jones’ case in order to determine whether there is probable cause to keep the DNA that was taken from Jones following his Friday morning arrest or not. But that will happen in chambers and neither Jones nor his attorney will be there.”

As of now, there are very little details regarding Jones’ most recent arrest on Friday. “Bones” was in town for a UFC Hall of Fame fight induction and even spoke with reporters on Thursday about his move up to Heavyweight in 2022. All of that is on hold right now until Jones makes his next court appearance in late October.

Jones, 34, hasn’t competed inside of the Octagon since defending his 205-pound title against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in Feb. 2020. He has since vacated that title in the hopes of challenging current UFC Heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou.

According to a follow-up report by ESPN’s Marc Raimondi on Saturday evening, the Las Vegas Justice Court ruled that there was probable cause in the arrest of Jones. That means “the defendant’s biological specimen shall be submitted to the appropriate forensic laboratory for genetic marker analysis.”

Stick with Mania for ongoing updates regarding Jones’ recent arrest.

One of the biggest heavyweight boxing matches of the year will unfold later today (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) live on DAZN from inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, as Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KO) puts his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles on the line against former Olympic gold medalist and cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13 KO).

This is a massive heavyweight bout to say the least. While Joshua was originally expected to meet fellow heavyweight superstar Tyson Fury this year that ultimately fell through and allowed Usyk to line himself up for his biggest fight yet. The undefeated Ukrainian fighter could be a serious problem for Joshua as the champion tries to solidify himself as the best fighter on the planet.

Luckily, fight fans won’t have to choose between watching Joshua vs. Usyk and the upcoming UFC 266 PPV card later tonight from Las Vegas, which features the return of Nick Diaz. Check out all the ways to watch Joshua vs. Usyk below:

Start Time

• Saturday, September 25, 2021, from inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England
• Main card begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
• “Joshua vs. Usyk” main event begins around 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT

Online Viewing

• “Joshua vs. Usyk” main card can be viewed through the DAZN network. Subscriptions run $19.99 per month.

Television Viewing

• For U.S. viewers, DAZN can be broadcast directly on your television via Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, LG Smart TV, Samsung TV, Apple TV, PlayStation, or Xbox.

Mobile Viewing

• “Joshua vs. Usyk” main card will be accessible through DAZN via Android, Amazon Fire, and Apple.

Main card

• Heavyweight: Anthony Joshua (C) vs. Oleksandr Usyk
• Cruiserweight: Lawrence Okolie (C) vs. Dilan Prasovic
• Light Heavyweight: Callum Smith vs. Lenin Castillo
• Welterweight: Maxim Prodan vs. Florian Marku
• Middleweight: Christopher Ousley vs. Khasan Baysangurov
• Lightweight: Campbell Hatton vs. Izan Dura

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of today’s main event below. The DAZN broadcast (watch it here) kicks off at 1 p.m. ET, with Joshua and Usyk likely making the walk closer to 5 p.m. ET.

The final episode of UFC 266 “Embedded” has dropped ahead of tonight’s (Sat., Sept. 25, 2021) massive fight card live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the latest episode of UFC 266 “Embedded,” lightweight Dan Hooker finally arrives in Las Vegas for his fight with Nasrat Haqparast, fighters tip the scales for official weigh ins, and fans get to see Nick Diaz in his first staredown in nearly seven years. Not to mention a few cameos from former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

From the official YouTube description:

Dan Hooker connects with his champion teammate Alexander Volkanovski after finally making it to fight week. The stars of UFC 266 make weight Friday morning, then make their way to Park Theater for a ceremonial weigh-in packed with fans.

UFC 266 will be headlined by a featherweight title fight between current UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski and top contender Brian Ortega. The co-main event will pit UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko against veteran Lauren Murphy, while Diaz meets Robbie Lawler in a five-round rematch 17 years in the making,

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 266 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.