The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UK with Leon Edwards set to defend his welterweight title for the first time. Edwards, 31, won the belt back in August 2022 after defeating Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 thanks to a fifth-round knockout.
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▶ Watch UFC 286 on ESPN+ in the USA
▶ Watch UFC 286 on BT Sport Box Office in the UK
UFC 268 will take place at The O2 in London, the first UFC event at The O2 since the Fight Night headlined by Blaydes vs Aspinall in July 2022.
Elsewhere on the main card, former Interim Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje fights for the first time since his defeat to Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 in May 2022. His opponent Rafael Fiziev comes into the bout off the back of a six fight win streak.
| Event: | UFC 286 |
| Date: | March 18, 2023 |
| Prelims start time: | 7pm GMT / 3pm ET |
| Main card start time: | 9pm GMT / 5pm ET |
| TV & stream: | ESPN+ / BT Sport |
UFC 286: Edwards vs Usman US live stream, TV channel, start time
Early Preliminaries for UFC 286 will start at 1pm ET and 10am PT in the States.
Prelims get underway from 3pm ET and 12pm PT.
Main card for the event starts at 5pm ET and 2pm PT.
Early Preliminaries and Prelims are available on ESPN and ESPN+. The Main Card will be available exclusively on ESPN+ PPV.
UFC 286: Edwards vs Usman UK live stream, TV channel, start time
Early Preliminaries for UFC 286 will start at 7pm in the UK and will be available on UFC Fight Pass.
Proceedings will then switch over to BT Sport Box Office for the main card at 9pm. Customers can buy the fight for £19.95.
A live stream for the event can be found on the BT Sport Box Office website.
UFC 286 Early Preliminary Card
As well as the channels listed below, the Early Preliminary Card of UFC 286 is also available through the UFC Fight Pass.
| Weight Class | Fight | US / UK TV Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Women's Flyweight | Juliana Miller vs Veronica Macedo | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
| Lightweight | Jai Herbert vs L'udovit Klein | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
| Women's Flyweight | Joanne Wood vs Luana Carolina | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
| Flyweight | Malcolm Gordon vs Jake Hadley | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
| Middleweight | Christian Leroy Duncan vs Gabriel Santos | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
| Featherweight | Lerone Murphy vs Gabriel Santos | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
UFC 286 Preliminary Card
The UFA 286 preliminary card features a flyweight fight, featherweight contest and two lightweight bouts.
| Weight Class | Fight | US / UK TV Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Flyweight | Mohammed Mokaev vs Jafel Filho | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
| Lightweight | Chris Duncan vs Omar Morales | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
| Lightweight | Sam Patterson vs Yanal Ashmoz | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
| Featherweight | Jack Shore vs Makwan Amirkhani | ESPN+ / BT Sport 1 |
UFC 286 Main Card
| Weight Class | Fight | US / UK TV Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Middleweight | Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dollidze | ESPN+ / BT Sport Box Office |
| Women's Flyweight | Jennifer Maia vs Casey O'Neill | ESPN+ / BT Sport Box Office |
| Welterweight | Gunnar Nelson vs Bryan Barberena | ESPN+ / BT Sport Box Office |
| Lightweight | Justin Gaethje vs Rafael Fiziev | ESPN+ / BT Sport Box Office |
| Welterweight | Leon Edwards (c) vs Kamaru Usman | ESPN+ / BT Sport Box Office |
The main event is, of course Leon Edwards against Kamaru Usman, with the Nigerian out to reclaim the title he lost against the Englishman last August. It is the trilogy fight between the pair, with the fighters enjoying one win each.
Leading up to that fight, Justin Gaethje faces off against Azerbaijan's Rafael Fiziev, with Gaethje coming off the back of a loss to Charles Oliveira, while Fiziev beat Rafael dos Anjos last time out. Conor McGregor's long-time team-mate Gunnar Nelson is on the main card too as he fights Bryan Barbarena - a man who, interestingly, lost to Dos Anjos in his last fight.
Colby Covington has been confirmed as the official backup for the main event after appearing at the UFC 286 weigh-ins and stepping on the scales at 170lbs. This month marks a full calendar year since Covington's last UFC bout. His victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 was marred by an incident that occurred in its aftermath when Masvidal sucker-punched Covington outside of a Miami Beach restaurant. Covington pressed charges and has since been out of the public eye.