5 fighters with a major point to prove at UFC 266 this weekend

Despite his accomplishments, Alexander Volkanovski still has a point to prove at UFC 266

This weekend sees one of the biggest UFC events of 2021 go down, as UFC 266 features two title fights as well as the return of superstar Nick Diaz.

There are a number of huge fights on the UFC 266 card. Understandably, the event features a number of fighters with major points to prove.

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Your #UFC266 cold open is here.

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Some of these fighters are looking to prove they still belong in title contention. Others want to show that they deserve more respect or are still relevant in the UFC. Either way, it’s almost a guarantee that they’ll fight tooth and nail to ensure that they get their point across this weekend.

Here are five fighters with a major point to prove at UFC 266.

#5. Curtis Blaydes – UFC heavyweight contender

Curtis Blaydes might have his back to the wall coming into UFC 266 this weekend

At the start of 2021, Curtis Blaydes was flying as high as any fighter in the UFC. The heavyweight contender was riding a four-fight win streak and looked set to push himself into title contention at some point in the year.

However, ‘Razor’ then fell to Derrick Lewis via knockout in their main event clash in February. While ‘The Black Beast’ went onto an unsuccessful challenge for the interim UFC heavyweight title, Blaydes has been left to lick his wounds on the shelf.

Not only did the loss knock him out of title contention for the time being, but given his wrestling-heavy style, it’s likely that he’ll have to work harder than most to ever get back into that position.

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Blaydes has his chance to start anew at UFC 266, though, as he takes on fellow high-ranked heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

‘Bigi Boy’ is coming off a big TKO win over Augusto Sakai in June. He’s a highly dangerous striker who has only ever lost to Gane and Francis Ngannou in the octagon, and he holds wins over fighters like Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos.

However, stylistically speaking, Blaydes should be a bad match for him. His takedowns are probably the best in the UFC heavyweight division, and Rozenstruik has shown a propensity for struggling against that kind of gameplan in the past. But if ‘Razor’ makes a wrong move, it’s definitely possible that he could find himself knocked out again.

Blaydes therefore will need to be careful, but not too careful. He’s got a major point to prove here and will not only want to show that he can win, but that he can win in brutal fashion too. Simply put, anything else will not be good enough.