The UFC returns to Florida for the first time in 14 months and 12th time overall with UFC Ft. Lauderdale, which originally was set to air on ESPN until an unfortunate sequence of events occurred.
In the main event, a middleweight clash is set as Ronaldo Souza meets Jack Hermansson. Originally, Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa were supposed to fight each other, but it fell through after Costa withdrew. Souza stepped in for a rematch against Romero, but then Romero withdrew earlier this month, which is when Hermansson stepped in to take on Souza.
In the co-main event, former NFL All-Pro Greg Hardy makes his sophomore UFC appearance, looking to rebound from a disqualification loss when he meets Dmitrii Smoliakov in a heavyweight bout.
Take a look at the UFC Ft. Lauderdale event info, lineup, start times, and storylines.
What: UFC on ESPN+ 8 (formerly UFC on ESPN 3)
When: Saturday
Where: BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla.
TV, live stream: ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN+ (start your free trial)
Full Fight Card, start times
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET)
- Ronaldo Souza vs. Jack Hermansson
- Greg Hardy vs. Dmitrii Smoliakov
- Alex Oliveira vs. Mike Perry
- Ion Cutelaba vs. Glover Teixeira
- John Lineker vs. Cory Sandhagen
- Thomas Gifford vs. Roosevelt Roberts
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET)
- Takashi Sato vs. Ben Saunders
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Augusto Sakai
- Carla Esparza vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Gilbert Burns vs. Eric Wisely
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2, 5:30 p.m. ET)
- Jason Gonzalez vs. Jim Miller
- Jodie Esquibel vs. Angela Hill
- Dhiego Lima vs. Court McGee
Key storylines
- 8 burning questions heading into UFC on ESPN+ 8
- ‘Jacare’ explains being pressured into accepting main event
- Hardy relishes second co-main event spot: ‘Like being in the Super Bowl’
- 32 fights into UFC run, Miller changes things up in personal way
- Hardy aims to rebound after backlash from DQ in UFC debut
- Arlovski: ‘Fire in my eyes’ to fight four or five more years
For more on UFC on ESPN 3, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
