The 31-year-old from the Gold Coast gets her big chance when she steps into the cage in Las Vegas on Saturday to take on dual world champion Amanda Nunes.

The Brazilian, who holds titles in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions, puts the former belt on the line at the weekend.

Nunes, who has reigned at bantamweight since 2016 and featherweight since 2018, is the only fighter to successfully defend two belts. She's won 11 straight, with seven finishes in that span in a 20-4 career.

Anderson, who served two and a half years in the Australian military, goes into the bout with a 11-4 record.

After consecutive wins over Zarah Fairn Dos Santos (round one submission) and Norma Dumont Vian (first-round knockout), Anderson earned a showdown with Nunes.

But the fight scheduled for December 12 was postponed after the champion withdrew due to an undisclosed injury.

Their bout is one of three title fights on the UFC259 card.

The main event is a champion vs champion superfight, as undefeated middleweight king Israel Adesanya (20-0) of New Zealand goes up in weight and challenges newly crowned light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz (27-8) of Poland.

It's unusual for a fighter who hasn't yet cleaned out his division to challenge for a second belt, but Adesanya lobbied for and received the fight against Blachowicz, who is making his first title defence.

A win would make Adesanya the fifth fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold two weight-class belts, joining Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Nunes and Henry Cejudo.

Also on the card is an intriguing bantamweight title fight as Russia's Petr Yan (15-1) makes his first defence of his belt against American Aljamain Sterling (19-3).

Yan brings a 10-fight win streak, which includes four finishes in his seven UFC fights, into the bout. Sterling has won five in a row and seven of eight.

Australian Associated Press