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With just 45 days remaining until UFC 219, the promotion's annual New Years' Eve weekend card in Las Vegas is noticeably without a main event. 

If you look even closer at the bouts already announced for the Dec. 30 card, which is typically among UFC's biggest and most successful card annually, you'll notice there isn't even a strong contender for a worthy co-main event. 

As things stand right now, it doesn't appear as if lightweight champion Conor McGregor, the sport's biggest star who has been idle for one year, will be walking through that door to save the card. Especially not after his recent role inciting a wild melee during a Bellator MMA card in Dublin.

McGregor hasn't fought in any form since his August boxing loss to Floyd Mayweather and there was never a guarantee he would return this calendar year. There's little question that uncertainty played a huge role in UFC being this close to the card without a main event being announced. But it isn't the only factor. 

A women's featherweight title bout between Cris "Cyborg" Justino and former 135-pound champion Holly Holm was expected to be part of UFC 219 until negotiations fell apart at the last minute. UFC is also promoting four separate fight cards besides UFC 219 during the month of December, including a loaded UFC 218 tilt in Detroit, which has left the pickings incredibly thin.  

Rumors continue to swirl as to which fights and fighters are being discussed as UFC scrambles to ensure the event still goes off as planned. 

Putting our matchmaking hats on for a second, let's take a look at which fights could be a good fit to save the event if booked. 

UFC welterweight championship — Tyron Woodley (c) vs. Nate Diaz

This is the one fight that has been most aggressively rumored of late. Woodley, who last defended his 170-pound title in July against Demian Maia, told ESPN on Wednesday he would be more than willing to do so, even with the shoulder injury he's currently nursing. 

Woodley has largely been an under promoted entity for UFC (and underrated, having been the betting underdog in eight of his last nine bouts). He has also battled criticism from his own employers for unexciting title defenses in his last three fights. But this fight would be plenty worthy of a stage like UFC 219, especially considering Diaz's star power after a pair of 2016 bouts against McGregor either challenged or broke UFC pay-per-view records. 

The main problem will be getting Diaz, who lost a 2012 decision to then lightweight champion Benson Henderson in his lone UFC title bout, to agree to the fight. Diaz has routinely turned down any fight offered him that didn't include McGregor for more than a year. After getting a taste of top-shelf PPV money, it will be interesting to see if he's willing to take less, even with a title at stake.

UFC heavyweight championship -- Stipe Miocic (c) vs. Cain Velasquez

There's still a strong case to be made that Velasquez, the often injured two-time champion, is still the best heavyweight on the UFC roster. He just hasn't been healthy enough for any length of time to prove that. But fresh off successful surgery to open 2017, Velasquez appears close. 

During his last bout -- a first-round TKO of Travis Browne at UFC 200 in 2016 -- Velasquez looked like the vintage version of old and despite being 35, operates in a division where age typically doesn't hinder. A fight against the hard-hitting Miocic would present an intriguing style matchup, provided UFC can come to terms with the champion, who has been idle since May with contract issues. 

The timing of the bout would also be key in terms of Miocic's rise. Fresh off a five-fight win streak, all by knockout, Miocic is one victory away from setting a heavyweight record for title defenses with three. He would need to do so against the best heavyweight of this decade. 

UFC light heavyweight championship -- Daniel Cormier (c) vs. Alexander Gustafsson II

Admittedly, Cormier has spent more time exchanging trash talk publicly with red-hot slugger Volkan Oezdemir than any other light heavyweight (not named Jon Jones, of course). But with just three UFC bouts under his belt, Oezdemir hasn't quite earned the title shot yet and doesn't hold enough name value for a card like UFC 219. 

Gustafsson, a two-time title challenger, certainly does however. Four years after losing by disputed decision to Jones in one of the greatest fights in UFC history, Gustafsson appears to be back in top form despite a stretch of three defeats in four fights against top competition. One of those defeats was to Cormier by split decision in one of 2015's best fights. There's no reason to believe a second one would be anything but explosive. 

UFC interim lightweight championship -- Tony Ferguson (c) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

This bout was supposed to provide a partial amount of 155-pound clarity when it was scheduled for March at UFC 209 while McGregor was idle for paternity leave. But Nurmagomedov pulled out just days before after being hospitalized due to a difficult weight cut and attempts to reschedule fell apart. Ferguson went on to submit Kevin Lee in October to claim the vacant strap. 

Rebooking this fight at UFC 219 isn't a perfect idea. The bout is much more important critically than it is commercially and Nurmagomedov is already booked to the card, as he's set to snap a one-year layoff against Edson Barboza. It appears UFC would also prefer to save Ferguson for McGregor's return in a unification fight, which would make sense for UFC 222 on March 3 in Las Vegas. But if things continue to get desperate and McGregor proves unwilling to bend, Ferguson-Nurmagomedov would be a violently exciting replacement designed to create McGregor's next opponent.

UFC women's strawweight championship -- Rose Namajunas (c) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk II

Did I mention we were desperate? Yes, a 56-day turnaround is far from ideal. And, certainly, Namajunas deserves more time to bask in the glory of her stunning knockout victory at UFC 217 two weeks ago. But considering the fight lasted just over three minutes, both fighters exited the bout with minimal damage (and a lot less than Bisping, who is already set to return later this month in China). And the rematch has even more potential for fireworks and drama than most thought the first time around. Was Namajunas' victory a fluke or the true end to one of the most dominant female title reigns in UFC history? 

UFC women's featherweight championship -- Cris "Cyborg" Justino (c) vs. Germaine de Randamie

With Holm talks having cratered, why not just book this quasi-unification bout for 145-pound title as a replacement? The fight is far from a commercial bombshell, of course, but it would provide needed clarity after de Randamie was stripped of the belt in June for being unwilling to defend against Justino. Considering McGregor has yet to defend either of the UFC titles he has won, the decision seemed rather hypocritical. 

Holm brings much more name value, but she also lost fair and square to de Randamie for the inaugural championship in February. As a last-minute co-main event, UFC could do a lot worse than this one. 

UFC bantamweight championship -- TJ Dillashaw (c) vs. Jimmie Rivera

Admittedly, this one has more to do with convenience and desperation than necessarily making a ton of sense. Dillashaw would be up against a similarly ridiculous 56-day turnaround from UFC 217 and appears to have bigger fish to fry than Rivera, including a super fight with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and a likely eventual rematch with Cody Garbrandt, whom he knocked out for the title two weeks ago. But Rivera was already booked for UFC 219 until his much-anticipated fight with Dominick Cruz was scrapped when the former champion broke his arm in training. Rivera, who owns a gaudy 20-fight win streak, has gone public with his hopes of securing a last-minute title fight. You can't blame him for trying.  

Middleweights -- Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero

Without no title on the line and Romero fresh off a loss to Robert Whittaker in their interim title bout, this would be a hard sell as a main event. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't deliver in terms of action and retain a decent level of importance to the middleweight rankings. Ideally, Romero's spot would go to former champion Chris Weidman in a rematch with Rockhold that was originally supposed to take place at UFC 199 in 2016 before injury opened the door for Michael Bisping. But Weidman isn't quite ready to return from a hand surgery.