Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The UFC finishes up about a month-long stay at its Fight Island facility in Abu Dhabi this Saturday with one of the most anticipated bouts of the year as a lightweight title fight between unbeaten champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Justin Gaethje highlights UFC 254. The main card starts much earlier than usual at 2 p.m. ET and is available via pay-per-view.

The 32-year-old Khabib, from Russia, is 28-0 – the longest active unbeaten streak in mixed martial arts – and ranked as the UFC’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter behind Jon Jones (who may or may not fight in the organization again). “The Eagle” won the lightweight title in April 2018 over Al Iaquinta but really became a household name in North America in another title bout against Conor McGregor in October of that year at UFC 229. Khabib won by fourth-round submission. There was a brawl after that bout that led to a six-month suspension for Khabib.

He hasn’t been in the Octagon since September 2019 when he defended the belt again with a third-round submission of then-interim champion Dustin Poirier. Khabib and Gaethje were originally to meet in September, but Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap, passed away from health complications after having contracted COVID-19. Khabib also was set to defend his belt in April against Tony Ferguson, but Khabib was not able to leave Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic.