Conor McGregor currently holds the UFC lightweight title, but when “The Notorious” turned his focus to a boxing showdown with Floyd Mayweather, an interim title fight was scheduled for this Saturday night, between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee.
Ferguson, who is on a nine-fight win streak dating to October 2013, is the No. 2-ranked lightweight fighter in the world behind McGregor, according to ESPN. He seeks to become the sixth fighter to win both The Ultimate Fighter reality series (he won season 13 in 2011) and a UFC title.
Lee, the No. 8-ranked lightweight fighter, according to ESPN, comes into this title fight on a five-fight winning streak dating to April 2016, with the last three victories coming by way of rear-naked choke. Lee’s five wins since the beginning of 2016 are tied for the most in the UFC with Derrick Lewis, Rustam Khabilov, Sam Alvey and Gegard Mousasi.
Johnson looks to defend title
Demetrious Johnson is on the verge of history when he defends his UFC flyweight title Saturday night against Ray Borg at UFC 216. Their scheduled UFC 215 bout was canceled two days prior because Borg was ill. If Johnson wins, it will be his 11th consecutive title defense, breaking a tie with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva for the most in UFC history.
Johnson’s win streak in the UFC is up to 12, tied with former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre for third-most in UFC history. With a win, he would tie Jon Jones for the second-longest win streak in UFC history and would be three consecutive wins shy of matching Silva for the longest all time.
Johnson has held the UFC flyweight title since Sept. 22, 2012, the longest reigning current champion in the UFC.