With so many UFC events happening since the lockdown began, big fights have been spread out in such a way that it paradoxically prevented genuinely big events taking place. So even with at least one show a week for almost a year, UFC 259 is still a breath of fresh air as every fight matters: Not only are there three championship bouts, the bouts are important all the way down the card – even in the prelims.

UFC Light Heavyweight championship: Jan Blachowicz (c) vs. Israel Adesanya

One of the surprising ways that Conor McGregor changed the game came when he won the lightweight championship while also holding the featherweight belt. Holding one title was no longer enough; now, it was all about becoming champ-champ.

New Zealand's undefeated Israel Adesanya has run through the middleweight division since he arrived in the UFC in 2018 and after three successive title defenses has run out of credible challengers so is moving up from 185 lbs to 205 lbs to face that division's champion, Jan Blachowicz.

It speaks volumes to how dominant Adesanya has been in the UFC that champion Blachowicz comes into this bout as the underdog. A top prospect from KSW, Blachowicz lost four of his first five fights in the UFC and it took him a long time to put his skills together; he did win eight of his next nine, but now he's 38 years old and fighting someone who's almost a decade younger and known for speed.

His nickname is "Polish Power" and, as seen against Dominick Reyes, he can knock people out from jab range, the issue will be if he can get close enough to and accurately land on "Stylebender" Adesanya.

UFC Women's Featherweight championship: Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Megan Anderson

The women's featherweight division was created by UFC to get Cris Cyborg into the organization. Basing a whole section of your roster around one person is a bad idea, particularly when it's a one-of-a-kind female athlete who is 5 ft 8 in and 145 lbs. Those athletes are rare, championship caliber ones are rarer.

After outclassing everybody, Cyborg finally faced fellow Brazilian Amanda Nunes, a bantamweight who moved up. In an example Israel may take heart from, she knocked Cyborg clean out. When she faces Megan Anderson tomorrow, she will have held the belt for 792 days and defended it once.

This is a thin division, and that's what makes Aussie Anderson so exciting: She's a legitimate contender. At 6 ft, she's physically bigger than Nunes and won five of her last six victories by KO/TKO, meaning her boxing carries real danger.

It's been over five years since Nunes last lost and, in those intervening 11 fights, she has overpowered everybody, however this is not her preferred weight class and Anderson is a knockout artist meaning an upset is definitely on the cards.

UFC Bantamweight championship: Petr Yan (c) vs. Aljamain Sterling

MMAth – internet slang for treating fighter records like signs of linear progression – rarely works out, but in the case of Aljamain Sterling, it seems undeniable. He wiped out Cory Sandhagen in 90 seconds at UFC 250; since then, Sandhagen did even worse to Marlon Moraes (broke his eye socket with a spinning kick) and legend Frankie Edgar (knocked him unconscious with a flying knee) meaning, surely, the guy who finished Sandhagen in one round has to be the real killer of the bantamweight division, right?

He will find out when he faces defending champion Petr Yan. His ring name is "No Mercy" and he's earned it through his brutal fight style. Most 135-lb fighters aren't known for their power but Yan had a tough upbringing in rural Russia and he later earned the distinction of Master of Sport in boxing, meaning he isn't afraid of getting into a scrap and, once there, knows how to do damage and is looking to getting a finish in this bout.

Sterling has accused Yan of being a "paper champion." This is one of the few cases this allegation isn't just trash talk: The caliber of opponent he's faced in his past five fights has diminished each time, even though their respective fame has increased, and his title win came against a washed up Jose Aldo. Yan has crushed his opponents every time in the Octagon, Sterling will be his first who can't be called over the hill.

Cruz vs. Kenney / Song vs. Phillips

Main eventing the preliminary bouts before the PPV starts are two bantamweight fights clearly positioned to get fresh, lower ranked fighters into the flagging top 10. Dominick Cruz, 35 years old and coming off back-to-back losses four years apart, is the biggest name but it looks as if he's being fed to upcoming Casey Kenney who bludgeoned Alateng Heili and Nathaniel Wood, both in October last year.

The more interesting bout is 8-1 Kyler Phillips taking on China's Song Yadong, who hasn't lost since arriving in the UFC in 2017. Song has bounced between bantam and featherweight for years but has done his best work at this current weight class. Technically, as Phillips is ranked lower than he is, a win wouldn't propel him up the rankings, however, as he is taking this fight due to all other opponents dropping out due to COVID-19 related issues, he is showing a fighting spirit that will engender him with UFC management.