UFC 249: Date, Time, TV And Live Stream Info

It’s actually going to happen.

Having cleared all legal hurdles, UFC 249 is officially on tap for Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

Tony Ferguson will face Justin Gaethje for the UFC Interim Lightweight Championship, and Henry Cejudo will defend the UFC Men’s Bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz, but there is far more to see that those two fights.

Here’s how you can watch.

Date

Time, TV and Live Stream

• Early Prelims at 6:30 pm ET (UFC Fight Pass or ESPN+)
• Mid-Level Prelims at 8 pm ET (ESPN or ESPN+)
• Main Card at 10 pm ET (ESPN+ PPV)

The Draw

With all due respect to Ferguson, Gaethje, Cejudo, and Cruz, the biggest draw for UFC 249 is its mere existence in a world that has largely been without major sporting events for over a month.

The UFC may draw some casual fans to this event because of the thirst to see world-class athletes competing against each other in their sports.

Beyond that, there is a world title on the line in the co-main event between one of the greatest combat sports athletes of all time in Cejudo and a two-time UFC Men’s Bantamweight Champion in Cruz.

Cejudo will try to stop Cruz from becoming the first man in history to hold the 135-pound title three times.

Cruz is coming off a massive layoff. He hasn’t fought since he lost the title to Cody Garbrandt via unanimous decision back in 2016. A barrage of injuries have robbed Cruz of most of the last 5-7 years of his career.

He’s still only 34, but he’s facing a major task in taking on Cejudo–especially in his first fight back.

Cejudo is smallish for bantamweight, but he is on a roll with wins over Wilson Reis, Sergio Pettis, Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw, and Marlon Moraes in his last five bouts.

Because of his current win streak, and Cruz’s long layoff, Cejudo is the favorite, but don’t be surprised if the former champion can pull the upset on the strength of his movement and Octagon IQ.

In the main event, Ferguson and Gaethje battle for an interim lightweight title that the former has held previously. It’s starting to seem as though Ferguson’s career is moving as laterally as he does in the Octagon in the midst of his unorthodox attacks.

With reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov unable to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions (again denying fans the chance to see the epic rivalry settled in the Octagon) Gaethje replaced him on the card.

It’s a shame we still haven’t had the opportunity to watch Ferguson and Nurmagomedov fight, but Gaethje never disappoints.

The main event is almost too close to call, but expect to see fireworks in a fight that can’t possibly fail to entertain.

Here is a breakdown of every fight on the card along with a link to the odds, preview and prediction article for each of the main card bouts.

Main Card – ESPN+ PPV

Mid-Level Prelims – ESPN & ESPN+

• Anthony Pettis vs. Donald Cerrone
• Aleksei Oleinik vs. Fabricio Werdum
• Carla Esparza vs. Michelle Waterson
• Uriah Hall vs. Ronaldo Souza

Early Prelims – ESPN+ & UFC Fight Pass

• Vicente Luque vs. Niko Price 
• Bryce Mitchell vs. Charles Rosa
• Ryan Spann vs. Sam Alvey

Be on the lookout for individual recaps on the main and co-main events, as well as the Performance of the Night bonus winners, and an overall look back at the results of UFC 249 on Saturday.