Two titles will be on the line Saturday night at UFC 269.
The UFC's final pay-per-view of 2021 will feature two veteran lightweights who have waited a long time to be a champion. Brazil's Charles Oliveira (31-8) claimed the vacant title in May and will make his first defense against Dustin Poirier (28-6) in the main event of UFC 269 in Las Vegas (10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV). Even though Oliveira is the champ, and has won nine in a row, many in the sport believe he needs to beat Poirier to validate his status as a real champ.
Poirier, of Louisiana, could have fought for the championship earlier this year, but he elected to take a lucrative detour against Conor McGregor. Now that he's coming off back-to-back wins over McGregor, Poirier has set his focus solely on claiming the undisputed title, something he's never done in his decorated MMA career.
In the other title fight of the night, Amanda Nunes (21-4) makes her sixth bantamweight title defense against Julianna Pena. Nunes has made it look relatively easy at the top in recent years, as she has dominated both the 135- and 145-pound weight classes.
Pena, of Spokane, Washington, has been very vocal in her belief that she is the one to truly challenge the female GOAT. Pena is only 2-2 in her past four fights, but she has a physical, grinding style of offensive wrestling, which she used most recently to defeat former U.S. Olympic wrestler Sara McMann at UFC 257 in January.
As usual, Nunes is a strong favorite to retain her title, but does Pena have a chance at the upset?
Who has the edge in these title bouts? ESPN asked several experts for their breakdowns and predictions.