UFC 278 live blog: Utah hosts first-ever PPV bout at Vivint Arena
UFC 278 is coming to Vivint Arena for the first-ever live Salt Lake City pay-per-view fight in the promotion’s history. (Sean Walker, KSL.com)
Estimated reading time: less than a minute
SALT LAKE CITY — The UFC is hosting its first-ever pay-per-view in Utah State at Vivint Arena, featuring reigning welterweight champion Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman defending his title against the #2 challenger Leon “Rocky” Edwards in a highly anticipated rematch of Edwards’ last fight loss.
In another high-profile fight, No. 6-ranked middleweight Paulo Costa will take on former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in his long-awaited return to the Octagon.
The first preliminary cards, which begin at 4 p.m. MDT, will stream on UFC Fight Pass. The preliminary rounds, including 13th-ranked Alexandr Romanov’s first-ever UFC match away from Las Vegas against No. 11 Marcin Tybura, will air on ABC and ESPN beginning at 6 p.m. MDT.
The main card, which also features bantamweight No. 3 Jose Aldo against No. 6 Merab Dvalishvili, women’s bantamweight counter Wu Yanan of China against Lucie Pudilova of Czechia, and light heavyweights Tyson Pedro and Harry Hunsucker are available. exclusively on ESPN+ PPV starting at 8 p.m. MDT.
Follow the live blog below.
UFC 278 preview
Get ready for tonight’s main event with some sneak peeks showcasing the Beehive State fighting community:
The road to GOAT status passes tonight 🐐
[ @Usman84kg | #UFC278 | 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙨 630𝙥𝙢𝙀𝙏 on ESPN+ | 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙨 8𝙥𝙢𝙀𝙏 on @ABCNetwork | 𝙈𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙙 10𝙥𝙢𝙀𝙏 on ESPN+ PPV ] pic.twitter.com/JNf1oRJtpf
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2022
UFC 278 schedule
UFC 278
Where: Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City
When: Saturday August 20
Main Card (on ESPN + PPV) – 8 p.m. MT
- Welterweight Championship: No. 1 Kamaru Usman (20-1) vs. No. 2 Leon Edwards (19-3)
- Middleweight: No. 6 Paulo Costa (13-2) vs. Luke Rockhold (16-5)
- Bantamweight: No. 3 Jose Aldo (31-7) vs. No. 6 Merab Dvalishvili (14-4)
- Women’s Bantamweight: Wu Yanan (12-5) vs. Lucie Pudilova (13-7)
- Light heavyweight: Tyson Pedro (8-3) vs. Harry Hunsucker (7-5)
Preliminary matches (on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+) – 6 p.m. MT
- Heavyweight: No. 11 Marcin Tybura (22-7) vs No. 13 Alexandr Romanov (18-0)
- Lightweight: Leonardo Santos (18-6-1) vs. Jared Gordon (18-5)
- Featherweight: Sean Woodson (9-1) vs. Luis Saldana (16-7)
- Welterweight: AJ Fletcher (9-1) vs. Ange Loosa (8-3)
Early Preliminaries (on UFC Fight Pass) – 4 p.m. MT
- Flyweight: No. 11 Amir Albazi (14-1) vs. Francisco Figueiredo (13-4-1)
- Bantamweight: Aoriqileng (23-11) vs. Jay Perrin (10-5)
- Flyweight: Daniel Da Silva (11-3) vs. Victor Altamirano (10-2)
