UFC 257 goes down this Saturday night/Sunday morning on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
Leading the way for the UFC’s first pay-per-view event of the year will be Conor McGregor (22-4) and Dustin Poirier (26-6, 1NC) in a five-round main event that could determine who gets to fight for UFC lightweight gold next.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, technically still the UFC’s lightweight champion, has said he is looking for “something special” from the lightweights this Saturday night to tempt him back to the cage.
The Dagestani has already gotten the better of McGregor and Poirier but when we spoke to his head coach before Christmas last year, his retirement didn’t seem so final.
Also looking to put themselves in the frame are promotion newcomer Michael Chandler, the former Bellator lightweight champion, and Dan Hooker who continues his ascent up the 155 ladder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvTn082aPnI
What TV channel is UFC 257 on?
For Irish fight fans, the only way to legally watch the fight is on BT Sport Box Office. PPV costs have gone up slightly for 2021 with this Saturday’s fight costing €29.99.
What about a UFC 257 stream?
If you’re looking to stream UFC 257, again without BT Sport Box Office, you’ll be out of luck.
UFC shut down the ability to buy and stream PPV events through their UFC Fight Pass service a few years ago for Irish and UK fight fans due to the deal with BT and Sky for TV coverage.
Plus, if Dana White’s words last week are anything to go by, the UFC supremo is intent on clamping down on those facilitating illegal streams of the promotion’s events this year, indicating they had “already caught a lot of people”, while acknowledging it’s going to be a tough task to axe every illegal outlet.
What time will Conor McGregor fight Dustin Poirier?
Here’s the deal. Abu Dhabi time is 4 hours ahead of Irish time. You would think, therefore, that if the main card was to get underway around 8 or 9pm in Abu Dhabi that we would be looking at a 4 or 5pm start in Ireland. A fight like this in time for your Saturday night dinner? Yes please.
Unfortunately, while the fights are in Abu Dhabi, the UFC still very much operates on Vegas time for their big events.
So, the prelim fights aren’t expected to start until 1am Irish time, with the main card expected to kick off at 3am Sunday morning. Early prelims get underway between 11 and 11.30 PM on Saturday night.
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier aren’t expected to make their entrance until closer to 5am.
Full UFC 257 Fight Card
Main card
- Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier, Lightweight
- Dan Hooker vs Michael Chandler, Lightweight
- Jessica Eye vs Joanne Calderwood, Women’s Flyweight
- Matt Frevola vs Ottman Azaitar, Lightweight
- Marina Rodriguez vs Amanda Ribas, Women’s Strawweight
UFC 257 Prelims
- Nasrat Haqparast vs Arman Tsarukyan, Lightweight
- Brad Tavares vs Antonio Carlos Junior, Middleweight
- Julianna Pena vs Sara McMann, Women’s Bantamweight
- Khalil Rountree Jr vs. Marcin Prachnio, Light Heavyweight
- Andrew Sanchez vs Makhmud Muradov, Middleweight
- Movsar Evloev vs Nik Lentz, Catchweight
- Amir Albazi vs Zhalgas Zhumagulov, Flyweight
