Main Card at 7 p.m. ET, Prelims at 4 p.m. ET
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Saturday’s UFC Fight Night presented by Modelo: Blaydes vs. Daukaus will be live March 26 with the main card at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and the Prelims at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, all on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ (English and Spanish). It is the first UFC event in Ohio’s capital in 13 years, since UFC 96. Live coverage includes UFC Live presented by DraftKings Sportsbook: Blaydes vs. Daukaus on ESPN2 which airs Friday, March 25, at 3:30 p.m. and will provide fans with exclusive insights and views heading into Fight Night.
The main event features heavyweights, No. 4 Curtis Blaydes (15-3, 10 KOs) and No. 9 Chris Daukaus (12-4, 11 KOs). Coincidentally, both fighters have won five of their last six outings, and each hope to insert themselves into the title picture. After all, things are fluid at the top of the heavyweight division at the moment, with champion Francis Ngannou recent knee surgery, which gives added importance to this clash. Blaydes is UFC’s all-time leader among heavyweights with 62 takedowns. Meanwhile, Daukaus, a former Philadelphia police officer, has a knockdown rate of 5.26 per 15 minutes, the highest in UFC history (minimum five fights) and has an average fight time of 3:25, the second shortest ever among UFC heavyweights.
A women’s flyweight duel serves as the co-main as No. 7 Joanne Wood (15-7, 5 KOs) takes on No. 9 Alexa Grasso (13-3, 4 KOs). The two were originally scheduled to meet in November, but Grasso had to withdraw because of injury. Both have moved up from Strawweight. Wood – known as Joanne Calderwood before marriage last October – is a former Muay Thai champion and was a participant in The Ultimate Fighter 20. Grasso has triumphed in three of her four most recent fights. Three of her four knockouts ended in 36 seconds or less. Her first three fights lasted a combined 63 seconds.
Jon Anik will call the action, alongside former two-division UFC champ Daniel Cormier and UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping. Megan Olivi will handle reporting duties. All coverage in Spanish will be handled by Victor Davila and Santiago Ponzinibbio.
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Programming (All times ET)
* immediately following main card
Main Card and Prelims (All times ET)
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