‘Is He A Man, Or Is He A Machine?’

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will make his return to the Octagon this Sat. afternoon (Oct. 24, 2020) to defend his 155-pound strap against interim division titleholder Justin Gaethje, a five-round battle set for Flash Forum on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, UAE, streaming on ESPN+ with select “Prelims” on ESPN2.

Promotion president Dana White recently released the “cold open” for this weekend’s UFC 254 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which is industry speak for the first couple of minutes of video footage that tell you exactly what you’ll be watching, because it would probably be weird if the show came on and it was just two guys standing in the cage with Joe Rogan rambling on about DMT.

Before the Khabib-Gaethje main event gets underway, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will look to smash his way back into title contention at the expense of 185-pound power puncher Jared Cannonier. The winner is widely expected to move on to battle current division kingpin, Israel Adesanya, at some point in early-to-mid 2021.

For the rest of the UFC 254 fight card and lineup click here.