Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Matt Erickson

UFC on ESPN 49: How to watch Holly Holm vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – start time, fight card, odds, preview videos (Updated)

Holly Holm Mayra Bueno Silva ESPN UFC UFC on ESPN 49 ESPN 49 Istela Nunes Viktoriya Dudakova Las Vegas Azat Maksum

The UFC stays on its home turf in Las Vegas on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 49 at the UFC Apex. A former champion is at the top of the lineup.

Here’s how to watch UFC on ESPN 49 with women’s bantamweights in the main event.

Broadcast and streaming info

UFC on ESPN 49 has a main card that begins at 10 p.m. ET and airs on ESPN, as well as ESPN+. The prelims air on ESPN and stream on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Main event: Holly Holm

Mar 25, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Holly Holm (red gloves) fights Yana Santos (not pictured) during UFC Fight Night at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Meullion-USA TODAY Sports

Holly Holm (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) appears to be well past the struggles she experienced starting when she lost the women’s bantamweight title in her first attempted defense. That setback to Miesha Tate started a 1-4 rough patch. But since 2020, the ex-boxing champion is 3-1, including a March win over Yana Santos. It’s been more than five years since Holm won a post-fight bonus. Is one in her future when she headlines against Mayra Bueno Silva?

Main event: Mayra Bueno Silva

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 18: (R-L) Mayra Bueno Silva of Brazil kicks Lina Lansberg of Sweden in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 18, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

After back-to-back preliminary card submissions of Stephanie Egger and Lina Lansberg, the latter of which in February earned her a $50,000 bonus, Mayra Bueno Silva (10-2-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) shot right up the charts to a main event against a former champ. She’s chasing her fourth straight win when she takes on Holm.

UFC debut: Viktoriya Dudakova

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 30: Viktoriia Dudakova of Russia prepares to fight Maria Silva of Brazil in a strawweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season six, week six at UFC APEX on August 30, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

The 24-year-old Viktoriya Dudakova (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) finally will make her UFC debut when she takes on Istela Nunes (6-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC) in a women’s strawweight bout on the prelims. Dudakova got on the mainstream radar with a win on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2022, but it’s taken her nearly a year to get to the biggest moment of her early career. In Nunes, she has an opponent backed against the ropes on a three-fight UFC skid.

UFC debut: Azat Maksum

Kazakhstan’s Azat Maksum (16-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) brings an unbeaten record to his flyweight fight against Tyson Nam (21-13-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC), who has been fighting at the highest levels for years. Maksum most recently fought for the Octagon League promotion in his home country, where he won back-to-back main events.

UFC debut: Bassil Hafez

Bassil Hafez (8-3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) stepped up on less than a week’s notice to fight welterweight Jack Della Maddalena (14-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who lost his opponent at UFC 290 just days out when a brain condition was discovered on Josiah Harrell during pre-fight medical exams. The 31-year-old Pennsylvanian reclaimed Fury FC’s welterweight title in February with a third-round knockout of Evan Cutts in a rematch to avenge a split decision loss in his first attempted title defense in 2021. His first fight in the UFC will be a co-main event.