With less than a week for UFC’s hotly anticipated return to Abu Dhabi, the promotion has revealed its entire itinerary starting from pre-fight press conferences, weigh-ins, and exclusive fan meet-ups.
Continuing their long-standing tradition of featuring thrilling fights in the Middle East, the Etihad Arena in Yas Islands will host UFC 308. And as October 26 comes close, curious and ardent folks in the MMA community might be intrigued to catch every detail including the pre-fight press conference, ceremonial weigh-ins, etc.
UFC Full Schedule: Weigh-ins and pre-fight presser
Dropping the details on their IG handle, the promotion starts off its showdown with open workouts featuring Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway, Robert Whittaker, Khamzat Chimaev, and Shara Magomed on October 23 at 6 PM.
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Next comes the much-awaited presser on Thursday, October 24 with the full main card in attendance at 4.30 PM. The following day, Friday(October 25), will have the ceremonial weigh-ins starting at 6 PM after a brief athlete Q&A session at 5 PM.
Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, and Alexander Volkanosvki will also address the fan queries before the fight card commences on October 26.
In addition to this, the promotion has also arranged a fan experience at Yas Mall from October 21-27 and Yas Bay from October 23- 27.
Now that that’s out of the way, here’s a brief overview of the main fight card.
UFC 308 main card
For its Abu Dhabi return, the promotion has set an exciting card with the main event scheduled between Ilia Topuria (C) and the ‘BMF’ Max Holloway for the featherweight crown. Then there’s an exciting middleweight war between former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker and undefeated Chechen boogeyman, Khamzat Chimaev.
In addition to these exhilarating matchups, the matchmakers made sure to add more fireworks, featuring another middleweight banger between Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov & Armen Patrosyan.
Not to forget, Magomed Ankalaev’s UFC return against Aleksandar Rakic in the light heavyweight category.
Lightweight veteran Rafael Dos Anjos also makes an appearance next week in a bout against Geoff Neal in the preliminary card. The featherweight bout between Lerone Murphy & Dan Ige in the main card also promises the fandom a thriller of an evening.
As for the rest of the prelim cards:
Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki, lightweights
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos, bantamweights
Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira, middleweights
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Justin Tafa, heavyweights
Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo, bantamweights
Bruno Silva vs. Ismail Naurdiev, middleweights
With such a star-studded lineup, one might be wondering where to catch this live. Well, don’t fret!
How to watch UFC 308?
While the prelims are set to commence at 3:30 pm BST, the PPV main card portion is set to start at 7 pm BST with the octagon walks for the main event – Topuria vs Holloway – expected to take place around 9:30 pm BST.
Now for fight fans from the UK, the UFC 308 prelims will be broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass, TNT Sports 1, and Discovery+. Whereas, the main card will be available live stream on TNT Sports Box Office at a price of £19.99.
As for US fans, they will need an ESPN+ subscription. In addition to that, fans also get the alternate option. They can bundle ESPN+ with Hulu + Live TV, which provides access to 95 channels (CBS, TBS, ESPN, etc.) along with Disney+. This bundle costs $76.99 per month with ads or $89.99 without ads.
Unfortunately, despite having an ESPN + subscription, fans still need to pay $79.99 for major PPV events like UFC 308.
