How psyched are you for UFC 236? The battle takes place tomorrow, Saturday April 13 in Atlanta. Max Holloway—who at this point deserves to be included in any current “pound-for-pound” conversation—will be looking to add an interim lightweight belt to his trophy case when he faces off against Dustin Poirier. The co-main event is also an interim title bout; middleweight Kelvin Gastelum takes on Israel Adesanya. In total, five fights are exclusively on ESPN pay-per-view, beginning at 10 p.m. ET and available only through ESPN+.
UFC 236 marks the first time UFC pay-per-view bouts are exclusively on the ESPN+ streaming service—and if you don’t have it, you’d better get ESPN+ quick, because from now on every UFC pay-per-view event will be only streamed exclusively through ESPN+. The $1.5 billion contract UFC President Dana White signed with ESPN last year covers all 12 annual UFC events through at least 2025.
“Cord-cutting is real,” UFC President Dana White said in announcing the deal last year. “It’s scary the amount of subs dropping every year. Why wouldn’t I want to be aligned with the biggest, baddest sports company in the world? … Now it’s a one-stop shop at ESPN.” The Prelims are on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 8 p.m., with early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass beginning at 6:15.
How Do I Get ESPN+ ?
If you don’t have ESPN+ you can get a free 7-day trial if you sign up right now. If you’re one of those guys who’s not generally a sports fan but loves UFC—you know who you are—ESPN is offering a UFC Bundle at a tasty price for this fight: $80 plus an annual subscription to ESPN+—that’s a $110 value.
What’s the Main Draw of UFC 236?
The 27-year-old Holloway hasn’t lost a fight in nearly six years—he was 21, and it was a decision loss to Conor McGregor. In UFC terms, that was a lifetime ago. Since then, Holloway has developed into indisputably one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the game. His fights are always an entertaining brawl; his most recent victory was a violent stoppage of Brian Ortega. The featherweight champion, Holloway (20–3) moves to lightweight (155 pounds) on Saturday for a rematch against veteran Dustin Poirier (24–5, 1 NC). Now, Poirier beat Holloway in that first bout, but that was seven years ago—again, a lifetime. This should be an entertaining battle between two excellent, classy fighters who consistently win and provide great entertainment. Oh, and the winner gets Khabib Nurmagomedov.
ESPN+ is a subscription service that costs $5 per month and includes live-streaming coverage to a variety of sports besides UFC, including Major League Baseball, MLS, Series A, FA Cup, EFL, and NHL. You’ll get access to more than 20 Live UFC Fight Nights, over 30 Top Rank Boxing cards, Grand Slam tennis including Wimbledon, the US Open, and Australian Open. Plus, with ESPN+ you can your favorite college sports like football, basketball, lacrosse, gymnastics, softball, and many more, all year round.
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