The UFC returns to the mecca of combat sports Saturday for UFC 295 in New York with a pair of title fights at the top of the lineup.
Here’s how to watch UFC 295 with the vacant light heavyweight and interim heavyweight belts on the line.
Broadcast and streaming info
UFC 295 has a main card that begins at 10 p.m. ET and streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view. The prelims stream on ESPNews beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Early prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Main event: Jiri Prochazka
Former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will try to recapture the title he never lost when he takes on ex-middleweight champ Alex Pereira in the headliner. Prochazka vacated the title when he suffered an injury that was going to keep him sidelined for an extended period. Ironically, he’s now fighting for a title that came up for grabs when former champ Jamahal Hill vacated it due to an injury, as well. Prochazka has won 13 straight and hasn’t lost in nearly eight years. The former Rizin light heavyweight champ has torn through the UFC in a hurry with three finishes and four post-fight bonuses, but he’s fought just once per year in the UFC.
Main event: Alex Pereira
After Alex Pereira (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) lost the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in a rematch, he moved up to light heavyweight and took a split decision from ex-champ Jan Blachowicz in July. Now he’s thrust right back into a title fight and will try to become the ninth two-division champion in UFC history.
Co-main event: Sergei Pavlovich
Sergei Pavlovich (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) lost his UFC debut to Alistair Overeem in 2018. It was the first, and so far only, loss of his pro career. Since then, he has been on an absolute tear through the UFC’s heavyweight division with six straight knockout wins – all in the first round. (It’s hard to not wonder about the possibilities had Pavlovich not been on the sidelines for around 30 months during his current run.) After huge wins over Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa and Curtis Blaydes, Pavlovich has a shot at a UFC title when he takes on Tom Aspinall.
Co-main event: Tom Aspinall
After a year on the sidelines with a knee injury, Tom Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) returned with a bang in July and put away Marcin Tybura in 73 seconds in their London headliner. Just a year prior, Aspinall headlined in London against Curtis Blaydes, but blew his knee out 15 seconds into the fight. Aspinall has six UFC finishes, including five in the first round, and five post-fight bonus awards. He’s a slight favorite to win his first UFC title to set up a fight with the eventual winner of champion Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.
Featured bout: Jessica Andrade vs. Mackenzie Dern
Former women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (24-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) is at a critical juncture of her career. She has gone just 4-6 after she won the belt in 2019, and she’s currently mired in the first three-fight skid of her career, all of which have been stoppage setbacks, and all in 2023.
To keep from going 0-4 in the calendar year, Andrade has a tough task in U.S.-born Brazilian Mackenzie Dern (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC), one of the world’s best jiu-jitsu practitioners. Dern has alternated wins and losses her past five fights, but is coming off a win over Angela Hill in a Fight of the Night main event in May.
UFC debut: Kevin Borjas
Kevin Borjas (9-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), from Peru, will make his UFC debut against Joshua Van (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at flyweight on the prelims. Borjas beat Victor Dias on Dana White’s Contender Series in August. Van was supposed to fight him on that card, but took a short-notice UFC opportunity instead. Now that they’re both in the UFC, they’ll try again. Borjas has eight of his nine pro wins by knockout, but Van is more than a 2-1 betting favorite.
Pay-per-view main card betting odds
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Jiri Prochazka (+105) vs. Alex Pereira (-125) – for vacant light heavyweight title
- Sergei Pavlovich (+100) vs. Tom Aspinall (-120) – for interim heavyweight title
- Jessica Andrade (+160) vs. Mackenzie Dern (-190)
- Matt Frevola (+175) vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (-190)
- Diego Lopes (+115) vs. Pat Sabatini (-135)
ESPNews preliminary card betting odds
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews, 8 p.m. ET)
- Alessandro Costa (+115) vs. Stephen Erceg (-135)
- Loopy Godinez (-140) vs. Tabatha Ricci (+120)
- Mateusz Rebecki (-650) vs. Roosevelt Roberts (+470)
- Viacheslav Borshchev (+125) vs. Nazim Sadykhov (-150)
ESPN+ preliminary card betting odds
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Jared Gordon (-175) vs. Mark Madsen (+145)
- John Castaneda (-155) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (+130)
- Kevin Borjas (+190) vs. Joshua Van (-235)
- Dennis Buzukja (+250) vs. Jamall Emmers (-310)
UFC 295 trailer
UFC 295 co-main event preview
Jiri Prochazka vs. Dominick Reyes full fight video
Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeira full fight video
Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 1 full fight video
Alex Pereira vs. Jan Blachowicz full fight video
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes full fight video
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.