The UFC middleweight championship is up for grabs on Saturday when belt holder Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya takes on third-ranked challenger Marvin Vettori.
The two last met in April 2018 — a split-decision victory for Adesanya on “UFC on Fox.” The victory brought Adesanya (20-1, 15 KOs) only his second victory under the UFC banner, and the 13th of his professional career. The loss was the fourth and, to date, final loss of Vettori’s career. He now stands at 17-4-1 with two KOs, having won his five post-Adesanya fights to earn a rematch against UFC’s No. 4 pound-for-pound fighter.
If there was a time for Vettori to usurp Adesanya as the UFC’s top middleweight fighter, it would be now: The Nigerian fighter is coming off his first career loss, a unanimous-decision defeat against Jan Blachowicz in the UFC light heavyweight championship. It was also Adesanya’s debut in the division.
Will Vettori be able to take advantage of the timing of his rematch? Or will Adesanya rebound in the middleweight clash? Here’s everything you need to know to tune in and find out:
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What time does UFC 263 start today?
- Early prelims: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
- Prelims: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
- PPV main card: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
- Adesanya vs. Vettori: Midnight ET (approx.) / 9 p.m. PT (approx.)
The main card for UFC 263 is projected to start at 10 p.m., with the main event taking place at roughly midnight.
What channel is UFC 263 on?
- TV channels: ESPN, ESPN+
Viewers can watch the early preliminaries and prelims on ESPN or ESPN+. The main card can only be watched, via PPV, only on ESPN+.
Click here to learn more about ESPN+ pricing and bundling options.
UFC 263 fight card
Early prelims
- Pianni Kianzad vs. Alex Davis (women’s bantamweights)
- Frank Camacho vs. Matt Frevola (lightweights)
- Chase Hooper vs. Steve Peterson (featherweights)
- Fares Ziam vs. Luigi Vendramini (lightweights)
- Carlos Felipe vs. Jake Collier (heavyweights)
Prelims
- Drew Dober vs. Brad Riddell (lightweights)
- Eryk Anders vs. Darren Stewart (light heavyweights)
- Lauren Murphy vs. Joanne Calderwood (women’s flyweight)
- Movsar Evloev vs. Hakeem Dawodu (featherweights)
Main card
- Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori (middleweight championship)
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno (flyweight championship)
- Leon Edwards vs. Nate Diaz (welterweights)
- Demian Maia vs. Belal Muhammad (welterweights)
- Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill, (light heavyweights)