With Conor Mcgregor facing Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship right around the corner on October 6th the UFC continues to put together amazing cards and spectacular fights to wrap up 2018. It was announced that the #2 ranked Lightweight "El Cuyuy" Tony Ferguson will return at UFC 229 to face off against #8 ranked lightweight Anthony "Showtime" Pettis in the Co-Main event for the night. Many were unsure of when Tony would return to the octagon at all in 2018 due to his horrific injury earlier this year when he tore his LCL completely off the bone during media obligations, but El Cuyuy is back with a vengeance.
It was also announced that the #2 ranked heavyweight Derrick Lewis will also be on the UFC 229 card to take on #5 ranked Alexander Volkov as they both have their eyes set on getting closer to the gold as Daniel "D.C." Cormier holds onto both the UFC Heavyweight and Light-heavyweight championships.
Max Holloway was medically cleared to fight, and the UFC did not hesitate to rebook the UFC Featherweight Championship bout against the #1 featherweight in the division Brian "T-City" Ortega in Toronto at UFC 231. This huge fight was supposed to take place at UFC 226, but Holloway was pulled from the event after everyone notice was acting different and his words were slurring. It was suspected that the UFC Featherweight Champion was suffering from concussion-like symptoms. Brian Ortega expressed that he wanted to wait for Max because he wanted to claim what is rightfully his so he did not accept any fights until the business he has with the champ Max "Blessed" Holloway is finished.
A huge Light-heavyweight bout was announced at UFC Fight Night 138 as the #2 ranked Light-Heavyweight Volkan "No Time" Oezdemir defends his spot in the division against the upcoming storm that is the #9 ranked Light-Heavyweight Anthony "Lionheart: Smith. Volkan has been held back by a few injuries, but he is ready to make his return in a big way. The last time we saw "No Time" in the octagon was when he faced off against Daniel Cormier for the UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship but lost the fight via TKO in the 2nd round. Anthony Smith is coming off of 2 fantastic wins over 2 UFC legends as he dismantled "Sugar" Rashard Evans and Shogan Rua just in the 1st rounds, both by knockout.
It was also announced that the #12 ranked Light-Heavyweight Thiago Silva will step in to face #5 ranked Jimi Manuwa at UFC Fight Night 137. Thiago recently fought at UFC 227 gaining the unanimous decision victory over newcomer Kevin Holland. We last saw Jimi Manuwa at UFC Fight Night 137 when he lost his rematch to Jan Blachowicz by decision
Jon "Bones" Jones has been very active in the media and on his social media as many are suspecting him to headline UFC in November at Madison Square Garden who the world is guessing to be Alexander Gustaffson
2 of the UFC most feared woman will finally square off on December 29th to close out the year at UFC 232 as the UFC Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes will face he UFC Woman's Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg as these 2 brazilians clash to find out who is the best out of the 2 and finally ut this long awaited grudge match behind them.
