This weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, at the State Farm Arena UFC 236 will be taking place with 2 huge title bouts that will be headlining the card. In the co-main event, #5 ranked middleweight Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya will face the #4 ranked Kelvin Gastelum for the interim UFC Middleweight Championship. Which will be more than likely unified this summer when the UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker returns after a major health scare that took place at UFC 234.
While the co-main event is gonna be a something to look out for the main event will help determine the future of the UFC Lightweight division until the champ Khabib Nurmagomedov makes his return in the 4th quarter of the year. The current UFC Featherweight champion Max "Blessed" Holloway will move up a division to face the #3 ranked Lightweight Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier in a rematch for the ages for the Interim UFC Lightweight Championship. Dustin and Max first fought in 2012 at UFC 143 in Max's UFC debut. Poirier won the bout via mounted triangle armbar
Since that fight, both fighters have grown tremendously while they are two completely different fighters and are on different levels in 2019. While it was unclear what the next move would be for the Lightweight division due to Khabib Nurmagomedov' suspension, many considered Tony Ferguson as the likely candidate for a title shot or even maintain his spot as the champion, but with everything going on in his personal life the UFC moved forward for the time being.
Dustin Poirier was in action last summer when he took on former UFC fighter and champion Eddie Alvarez in a bout which he put on a fantastic performance. He finished Eddie Alvarez in 2 rounds after a controversial elbow was thrown that caused Eddie Alvarez to lose his position in the fight. Before that, he finished the human highlight reel Justin Gaejthe in a back and forth brawl that eventually came to a crash landing in the 4th round. Dustin Poirier is currently on a 3 fight win streak with huge wins over top contenders that put him in the crosshairs of Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Max "Blessed" Holloway plans on becoming a double champ in the UFC as he has been completely flawless in the featherweight division. Max cleaned out the competition on his way to dethroning former champion who many people considered to be the greatest featherweight of all time Jose Aldo. After dismantling Aldo in two different fights, Max easily made his claim as the greatest featherweight of all time. He would then derail the hype train that was Brian "T-city" Ortega in a performance of the ages. Max Holloway outclassed and outstruck Brian Ortega in a beating that was more or less a lesson on the young fighter "T-City."
The UFC Featherweight champ Max Holloway is currently on a 13 fight win streak with no plans of slowing down for anyone. Dana White essentially made it clear that whoever wins the interim title fight will face Khabib Nurmagomedov in his return in September.