How many fights have been announced for the UFC 265 fight card?
While all the pay-per-view events up to International Fight Week have pretty much shaped up, the UFC 265 event is still in the making. As things are slowly returning to normalcy, the UFC is bringing the live audience back to its pay-per-view events.
UFC 265 is scheduled to take place on August 7, 2021. The location and venue for the event are yet to be announced. But the UFC is moving out of its Apex facility in Las Vegas, where it organized most of its events during the lockdown. So UFC 265 will most likely entertain a live audience.
Three fights have been announced for UFC 265
As of now, UFC 265 appears to be the card for those who enjoy watching bantamweight fights. A women's bantamweight title fight between champion Amanda Nunes and The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 winner Juliana Pena will take place at the event.
It has not been confirmed if the fight will headline the event. Two-division champion Amanda Nunes (21-4 MMA, 14-1 UFC) is the most dominant champion in the UFC's women's divisions.
Her last fight was a first-round submission win over Megan Anderson in a featherweight bout at UFC 259. Nunes has not competed at bantamweight since her unanimous decision win over Germaine De Randamie at UFC 245 in December 2019.
Julianna Pena (10-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is the No.6 ranked UFC bantamweight. Her last fight was a third-round submission win over veteran fighter Sara McMann at UFC 257. Pena has been campaigning hard for the title shot ever since the win.
A bantamweight showdown between Johnny Munoz (10-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Jamey Simmons (7-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is also being targeted for UFC 265. Originally scheduled for UFC 261, the bout was canceled after Simmons pulled out of the bout.
However, the matchup was kept intact and rescheduled for UFC 265. Both fighters are coming off of losses in their previous fights and will look to score their first wins under the UFC umbrella.
Another bantamweight bout between Vince Morales (9-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) and Drako Rodrigues has also been added to the UFC 265 card. Moraels is coming off back-to-back losses to Benito Lopez and Chris Gutierrez in his last two fights.
Drako Rodriguez earned his UFC contract with a submission win over Leomana Martinez in Dana White's contender series. He is in search of his first UFC win after an unsuccessful promotional debut against Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Fight Night 185 in February 2021.
We are three months away from UFC 265 and the event is most likely going to shape up in the coming few weeks with the addition of more fights. Dana White recently announced that Francis Ngannou vs Derrick Lewis 2 is being targeted for the summer. UFC 265 seems to have an empty slot for the newly crowned champ who wants to return to competition as soon as possible.