UFC 259 - Blachowicz vs Adesanya: When is it, time, how to watch in Australia, live updates, results, prelim fights

Brendan Bradford

UFC 259 - Blachowicz vs Adesanya: When is it, time, how to watch in Australia, live updates, results, prelim fights image

Three belts are on the line today as we get set for one of the biggest cards of the year at UFC 259 in Las Vegas. 

It's a particularly big day for fighters from Down Under, with two of our own challenging for titles and another couple on the undercard. 

See below for live updates, results and highlights

WHEN IS UFC 259 - BLACHOWICZ VS ADESANYA? 

The fight will be held on Saturday, March 6 in the US, which translates to  Sunday, March 7  in Australia and New Zealand. That's today.

WHAT TIME IS UFC 259 IN AUSTRALIA? 

With 15 fights (unheard of in the recent history of the UFC) the early prelims start a little earlier, with the actions beginning at 9:25am AEDT, with the prelims getting underway at 12pm. 

The pay-per-view portion of the card starts at AEDT 2pm with the first of five fights, including the three title fights. 

WHAT TIME IS ADESANYA FIGHTING? 

Expect Israel Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz to fight after 4:30pm AEDT. 

HOW TO WATCH AND STREAM UFC 259

In Australia, you can buy the pay-per-view on Main Event  or Fetch TV for $54.95.

You can stream the entire card from the early prelims to the main event on the UFC's Fight Pass streaming service as well. 

IS UFC 259 ON KAYO? 

Although Kayo has started airing some PPV cards, including Conor McGregor's last fight and some of Tim Tszyu's recent bouts, UFC 259 won't be available on the streaming service this weekend. 

UFC 259 LIVE UPDATES AND HIGHLIGHTS

All times in AEDT. 

UP NOW - Blachowicz vs Adesanya for the light heavyweight title. 

Amanda Nunes has stamped her mark on the featherweight division, submitting Megan Anderson in two minutes. Goat behaviour. 


 

NO WAY. Petr Yan has been disqualified in his first bantamweight title defence after throwing a very illegal knee to the head of Aljamain Sterling. 

Read more about it here. 

3:20pm - Islam Makhachev just mauled Drew Dober, earning a third round submission win. Dober was simply powerless to Makhachev's top game, eventually tapping out. 


2:45pm - "Disappointingly uneventful" is how Joe Rogan described Aleksandar Rakic's unanimous decision win over Thiago Santos late in the third round of thier light heavyweight encounter. Sad but true. We expected so much, and it delivered so little. 


2pm - Dominick Cruz has still got it, earning a hard fought split decision win over Casey Kenney. 

In a really weird twist, Cruz used his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan to call out Hans Molenkamp from Monster Energy for a charity fight. Strange stuff. 

1:30pm - WHAT A FIGHT! Kyler Phillips earns a hugely entertaining unanimous decision win over Song Yadong. That'll take some beating for Fight of the Night honours. 

1:50pm - Askhar Askarov beats Joseph Benavidez by unanimous decision. 

12:20pm - Kai Kara-France has scored a HUGE comeback knockout win over Rogerio Bontorin in the first round. 

Check the finish below, but read more about how the fight went down here. 


11:55am - Tim Elliott just put a beating on Jordan Espinosa, claiming a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27 30-27 30-25. 

11:20am - Carlos Ulberg has been knocked out in his UFC debut. The City Kick Boxing fighter started well, but was tired and was stopped in the second round by Kennedy Nzechukwu.


10:45am - Jake Matthews has been submitted by a dominant Sean Brady. Brady the first two rounds before locking in an arm triangle with 90 seconds remaining in the third. 

10:10am - In the third fight of the day, Amanda Lemos just obliterated Livia Souza three minutes, 39 seconds into the first round. 

9:50am - Oooft, Uroš Medić just put a beatdown on Aaron Cruz, knocking him out in the first round. The ref let that go on a bit too long. 

Read more about the fight here. 

9:30am - TREVIN JONES! What a way to start the card, with Jones knocking out Mario Bautista. 


UFC 259 CARD 

Here's the full UFC 259 fight card as it stands at the start of fight week. 

Light Heavyweight Jan Błachowicz vs Israel Adesanya
Women’s Featherweight Amanda Nunes vs Megan Anderson
Bantamweight Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling
Lightweight Islam Makhachev vs Drew Dober
Light Heavyweight Thiago Santos vs Aleksandar Rakić

Preliminary card
Bantamweight Dominick Cruz vs Casey Kenney
Bantamweight Song Yadong vs Kyler Phillips
Flyweight Joseph Benavidez vs Askar Askarov
Flyweight Rogério Bontorin vs Kai Kara-France

Early preliminary card
Flyweight Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa
Light Heavyweight Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Carlos Ulberg
Welterweight Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews
Women’s Strawweight  Lívia Renata Souza vs Amanda Lemos
Lightweight Uroš Medić vs. Aalon Cruz
Bantamweight Mario Bautista vs. Trevin Jones

UFC 259 RESULTS - 

Updated results here. 

Main Card - 
Islam Makhachev def Drew Dober via Rd 3 sub (arm triangle)
Aleksandar Rakic def Thiago Santos via UD

Prelims - 
Dominick Cruz def Casey Kenney via SD
Kyler Phillips def Song Yadong via UD
Askar Askarov def Joseph Benavidez via UD
Kai Kara-France def Rogerio Bontorin via Rd 1 KO (punches)

Early Prelims - 
Tim Elliott def Jordan Espinosa via UD
Kennedy Nzechukwu def Carlos Ulberg via Rd 2 KO (punches)
Sean Brady def Jake Matthews via Rd 3 submission (arm triangle)
Amanda Lemos def Lívia Renata Souza via Rd 1 KO
Uroš Medić def Aalon Cruz via Rd 1 KO (punches)
Trevin Jones def Mario Bautista via Rd 2 KO (punches)

WHERE IS UFC 259? 

The card will be held at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. 

It will be the first time either Adesanya or Blachowicz have fought at the venue, with both men most recently stepping into the Octagon on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. 

Nunes and Sterling both scored win at the UFC Apex at UFC 250 last year, but Anderson and Yan are yet to fight at the venue. 

ISRAEL ADESANYA VS JAN BLACHOWICZ 

While Anderson Silva fought at light heavyweight at various stages of his middleweight title reign, this will be the first time a 185-pound champion has contested the 205-pound belt. 

Adesanya stands to make history as the only fighter to ever to move up 20 pounds to win a UFC title. 

The Auckland-based 31-year-old most recently defended his middleweight title for the second time with a second round beating of Paulo Costa at UFC 253 in September. 

Blachowicz caused an upset when he knocked out Dominic Reyes in the second round on the same card. 

AMANDA NUNES VS MEGAN ANDERSON

Anderson is looking to create history by becoming the first female fighter from Australia or New Zealand to win a UFC belt. 

But she'll have to cause one of the biggest upsets ever to do so. Put simply, Nunes is not only the women's MMA GOAT, but a strong contender for top-five P4P fighter ever. 

The Brazilian has beaten a who's who of potential challengers at bantamweight and featherweight, including Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm, Valentine Shevchenko and Cris Cyborg. 

To win, Anderson will need to produce a performance on par with Holm's upset victory over Rousey at UFC 193 in Melbourne in 2015. 

Check out our fight-week chat with Anderson here.

PETR YAN VS ALJAMAIN STERLING 

This has all the makings of a cracker. 

Sterling is a relative veteran and has had his eyes on the bantamweight title for years. Undefeated in his last five fights, the New Yorker's shot at gold is probably overdue. 

Meanwhile, Yan is still considered the rising star. The Russian has seven wins on the trot since his UFC debut in 2018 and most recently deposed of the legendary Jose Aldo to claim the 135-pound belt. 

KAI KARA-FRANCE RETURNS

Kiwi flyweight Kai Kara-France is looking to rebound from an entertaining second round submission defeat at the hands of Brandon Royval at UFC 253 in September. 

KKF will take on Rogerio Bontorin in the prelims this weekend. Bontorin is 2-1 in the UFC since earning a contract on Dana White's Contender Series in 2018. 

He most recently lost a decision to Ray Borg at UFC 253 after Borg had missed weight. 

CARLOS ULBERG MAKES LONG-AWAITED UFC DEBUT

Long a mainstay on the Kiwi domestic kick-boxing scene, Ulberg went viral when he finished Bruno Oliveira inside a round on DWCS last November. 

He'll face the 7-1 Kennedy Nzechukwu on the early prelims on Sunday morning. 

JAKE MATTHEWS LOOKING TO EXTEND WELTERWEIGHT RUN

Melbourne's Jake Matthews is on a three-fight winning run, most recently claiming a decisive unanimous decision win over the veteran Diego Sanchez at UFC 253.

Matthews, who has been juggling training with a stint in the army, will face the 13-0 Sean Brady. 

IS KHAMZAT CHIMAEV RETIRING?? 

The other big news in the MMA world this week involves rising star Khamzat Chimaev, who announced his shock retirement. 

Chimaev burst onto the scene last year, but has recently struggled with COVID-19. Early in the week, the 9-0 star published a post to social media saying he was finished in the sport. 

"Thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport. I think I’m done," he wrote.

“It may upset you, but my heart and body tell me everything."

Days later, UFC president Dana White said Chimaev isn't  retiring, but that's a line he's been trotting out for Khabib Nurmagomedov for the last couple of months as well. 

Then, on Wednesday morning (AEDT) came the biggest twist in the saga when Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov made a statement. 

The head of state and staunch MMA supporter revealed he had spoken to Chimaev and that the talented fighter would continue fighting. 

"And this means that Khamzat does not leave, HE REMAINS AND WILL FIGHT TO THE END!" Kadyrov wrote in a post on the Chechnyan tourist department's Instagram account. 

So, if Chimaev retiring? If Kadyrov's involved, it doesn't look like it. 

WILL PODCAST KING JOE ROGAN COMMENTATR AT UFC 259?

Yes. It’ll be Joe Rogan’s second stint in the commentary booth since reappearing – to a tepid reception – at UFC 258. 

He’ll once again be part of a three-pronged commentary attack, with Jon Anik and former two-division champ Daniel Cormier rounding out the team.

It’s not that Rogan stopped commentating, more that his original decision – he wouldn’t do UFC cards outside of the United States – became more apparent with Abu Dhabi’s Fight Island becoming the UFC’s temporary home in 2020 and early 2021.

Brendan Bradford