The Interim UFC Middleweight Championship will be on the line on Saturday, when Yoel Romero and Luke Rockhold face off in the main event of UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold. The belt will only be on the line for Rockhold, however, as Romero couldn’t make the 185-pound limit on Friday.
It’s a pay-per-view card, with UFC Fight Pass prelims streaming from 6:30 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. At that point, Fox Sports 1 will pick up coverage for another two hours of preliminary bouts. The main pay-per-view card begins at 10 p.m., and there are various ways to order it on your television and streaming online, which you can find below.
The middleweight title has changed hands a few times recently. Georges St-Pierre returned from a long layoff to take the title from Michael Bisping, but vacated it when he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. St-Pierre was expected to face Robert Whittaker, the interim champion at the time. When St-Pierre announced his issues, Whittaker was promoted to undisputed champion and was set to face Rockhold.
But Whittaker had to pull out, making another interim title bout required. Romero is 12-2 as a professional, with recent wins over Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo Souza and Chris Weidman, but a loss to Whittaker in his last bout. Rockhold is 16-3, coming off a submission win over David Branch. Prior to that, he lost to Bisping defending the Middleweight Championship he won from Weidman.
That’s all for the main event, but there are several other interesting fights on the card. Jussier Formiga and Ben Nguyen will open up the FS1 preliminary card, while the penultimate fight on the main card will be between heavyweights Mark Hunt and Curtis Blaydes.
Below, you can find all the streaming and viewing information you need as well as the full official UFC 221 fight card.
All Times Eastern
How to watch UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold
Time: Prelims 1 at 6:30 p.m.; prelims 2 at 8 p.m.; main card at 10 p.m.
Location: Perth Arena, Perth, Australia
TV: FS1, Pay-per-view
Online Streaming: UFC Fight Pass, UFC.TV, UFC YouTube, Fox Sports GO
UFC 221 Full Fight Card
PPV Main Card (10 p.m.)
Middleweight: Yoel Romero vs. Luke Rockhold
Heavyweight: Mark Hunt vs. Curtis Blaydes
Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa vs. Cyril Asker
Welterweight: Jake Matthews vs. Li Jingliang
Light Heavyweight: Tyson Pedro vs. Saparbek Safarov
FS1 Preliminary Card (8 p.m.)
Lightweight: Damien Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Middleweight: Rob Wilkinson vs. Israel Adesanya
Featherweight: Jeremy Kennedy vs. Alexander Volkanovski
Flyweight: Jussier Formiga vs. Ben Nguyen
Fight Pass Preliminary Card (6:30 p.m.)
Lightweight: Ross Pearson vs. Mizuto Hirota
Bantamweight: Teruto Ishihara vs. José Alberto Quiñónez
Welterweight: Luke Kumeau vs. Daichi Abe