The UFC puts on another spectacular show from Phoenix Arizona later on tonight.
In the main event, Charles Oliveira defends his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje. Oliveira is on the run of his life and cemented himself as the 155 lbs. king when he defeated Dustin Poirier last year.
For Gaethje, this is the second time that the American has fought for the belt and Gaethje will be hoping for a different end result on this occasion. When he fought for the title back in 2020, Gaethje was beaten easily by Khabib Nurmagomedov.
In the nights co-main event, the women's strawweight title is on the line as Rose Namajunas defends against Carla Esparza. The two fought for the belt back in 2014, with Esparza coming out on top on that occasion.
Elsewhere on the card, Michael Chandler takes on Tony Ferguson in what promises to be a fight of the year contender. Additionally, MMA legends such as Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua and Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone will be in action.
Here's what you need to know:
Main Card
Charles Oliveira (c) vs. Justin Gaethje : Lightweight title bout
Rose Namajunas (c) vs. Carla Esparza : Strawweight title bout
Michael Chandler vs. Tony Ferguson : Lightweight bout
Mauricio Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux : Light-Heavyweight bout
Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon : Lightweight bout
Prelims
Andre Fialho vs. Cameron VanCamp: Welterweight bout
Randy Brown vs. Khaos Williams: Welterweight bout
Macy Chiasson vs. Norma Dumont: Featherweight bought
Brandon Royval vs. Matt Schnell : Flyweight bout
Blagoy Ivanov vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima: Heavyweight bout
Francisco Trinaldo vs. Danny Roberts : Welterweight bout
Early prelims
Tracy Cortez vs. Melissa Gatto : Flyweight bout
Kleydson Rodrigues vs. Carlos Vergara : Flyweight bout
Kleidison Rodrigues vs. CJ Vergara : Flyweight bout
Ariane Carnelossi vs. Lupita Godinez : Strawweight bout
Journey Newson vs. Fernie Garcia : Bantamweight bout
Venue
Footprint Centre in Phoenix Arizona, USA
Time and date
Early prelims start at around 10:30pm, while the Main Card starts at 3 AM, in the early hours of Saturday night/Sunday Morning May 8th
TV/Streaming information
The fight will be shown live on BT Sport Box Office You can also follow our live blog to stay up to date with all the action as it unfolds.
Quotes Corner
Gaethje: "Charles certainly is not more dangerous than Khabib.
"His ability to take damage is not the same, proven through the times we’ve seen him fight. All my criticism of Charles is from a kid that we were talking about, that we all watched grow, and now we’re talking about a man with confidence. It’s a different person, but ultimately the same Charles is still there.
“The same Charles that fought Cub Swanson. The same Charles that fought Donald Cerrone. The same Charles that fought Pettis. Choices were made in that by him and the choice to quit was made, and I’m going to give him that choice on Saturday night, I guarantee that.”
“I’m not calling him a coward, but I’m saying that’s — you can’t just take that away. It’s there. Khabib never showed you that, and that’s why you can’t compare those two.”
Namajunas: “I think what I see is, I’m clearly the best,”
“Obviously. It’s just a question of whether I’m the greatest in the division of all-time. And I think this is a huge step toward that for me, and that’s the big test.”
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