Twitter / UFC
Check out the official poster for UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje, set to go down from Fight Island, Abu Dhabi at the end of October.
UFC 253 is in the books and what a night of fights that was. While the highly anticipated Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa bout didn’t end up living up to the ‘Fight of the Year’ hype UFC president Dana White was selling, it was still a treat to see “The Last Stylebender” dispatch such a dangerous foe with ease.
Next up: UFC 254 on October 24th, also on Fight Island. Also featuring a Fight of the Year contender in lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje. And for those of you afraid that Khabib may not make it into the cage, consider this: Nurmagomedov is already in Abu Dhabi, safely inside the Fight Island bubble. Eagle-eyed fans may have noted his quiet presence in the corner of Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC 253.
So with that concern lightened, let’s get hyped with a new poster released for the event by the UFC. It’s a beaut:
KHABIB vs GAETHJE
Your #UFC254 poster has just dropped!
[ #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/kMweoc8rja
— UFC (@ufc) September 29, 2020
Also featured on the card (but not the poster) is an important middleweight fight with serious title implications between former champ Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier. Cannonier was the man 185 pound champ Israel Adesanya talked up as his next challenger after his routing of Costa … but first Jared will have to get past “Bobby Knuckles.”
The confirmed card as it stands:
- Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje
- Robert Whittaker vs. Jared Cannonier
- Alexander Volkov vs. Walt Harris
- Islam Makhachev vs. Rafael dos Anjos
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lauren Murphy
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba
Also reportedly on the card but still in a strange limbo for some reason:
- Stefan Struve vs. Tai Taivasa
- Jacob Malkoun vs. Phil Hawes
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Sergey Morozov
- Da Un Jung vs. Sam Alvey
- Liana Jojua vs. Miranda Maverick
- Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
As always in these crazy times, card is subject to change. Keep it locked to MMA Mania for all the updates, confirmations, and hopefully not too many heart-rending removals coming into this awesome card.