Robert Whittaker will face Jared Cannonier on the undercard for UFC 254 this weekend.
Khabib Nurmagomedov puts his lightweight title on the line against Justin Gaethje on Saturday night in the title of a huge night of MMA action which is live on talkSPORT 2.
The main warm-up for this tantalizing fight will be the middleweight showdown between Whittaker and Cannonier.
Whittaker lost to Israel Adesanya around the same time last year, but retaliated from the loss by beating Liverpool’s Darren Till on “ Fight Island ” in July.
“The Reaper” will now return to the Abu Dhabi desert to face Cannonier.
‘The Killa Gorilla’ has won three straight knockouts and is considering their own clash with star Adesanya.
The winner of this weekend’s clash could set up a next title fight and it promises to be a good rookie for the Khabib vs Gaethje main event.
UFC 254: start date and time
The huge show will take place on Saturday 24 October and will be held at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, behind closed doors.
The first preliminaries will start at 3:15 p.m. UK time, while the preliminaries will start at 5:00 p.m.
The six-player main map will start around 7 p.m. and Whittaker vs. Cannonier is expected to start around 8:30 p.m.
UFC 254: Fight Card
The complete card is subject to change
Main card
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) vs. Justin Gaethje (ic), lightweight
- Robert Whittaker vs. Jared Cannonier, middleweight
- Alexander Volkov vs. Walt Harris, heavyweight
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba, light heavyweight
- Jacob Malkoun vs. Phil Hawes, middleweight
Preliminary map
- Stefan Struve vs. Tai Tuivasa, heavyweight
- Alex Oliveira vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov, welterweight
- Da Un Jung vs. Sam Alvey, light heavyweight
- Nathaniel Wood vs. Casey Kenney, catch weight
- Liana Jojua vs. Miranda Maverick, female flyweight
- Joel Alvarez vs. Alexander Yakovlev, lightweight
UFC 254: How to Listen Live on talkSPORT
Full radio commentary from the event will be live on talkSPORT 2 this weekend.
Our coverage, hosted by Ade Oladipo, will begin at 7 p.m. on talkport.com and will then be live on talkSPORT 2 from 8 p.m.
Adam Catterall and Nick Peet will be on commentary duty for Whittaker vs Cannonier.
talkport.com will also have all the latest news, opinions and reactions to Fight Night.
To connect, click on the radio player below or HERE for the live broadcast.
UFC 254: TV and Live Streaming
This event will be pay-per-view in the UK and will be featured on BT Sport Box Office for £ 19.95. Their coverage will begin at 7 p.m.
The show can be purchased and then streamed live on the BT Sport website and app.
The first preliminaries will be posted on the UFC Fight Pass for subscribers as usual.
In the United States, all preliminary matches will be broadcast simultaneously on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN + in English and Spanish.
UFC 254: What Was Said?
Robert Whittaker: “I didn’t watch what Jared did. I do not care. I don’t care what he does.
“I don’t care if he had 400 knockout wins, I don’t mind. I didn’t look for it.
“My whole thing is, I think he’s not ready for me, because I know what I can bring, I know what type of fighter I am.
“I don’t think he’s at my level.
“I have always slept. Everyone sleeps on me. You know I had that time when people weren’t sleeping on me.
“And then as soon as I lost, they started sleeping on me again. I don’t mind, however. I like to disturb people.
“I like to derail fashionable trains, I like to upset the odds. I like this stuff. It’s funny. It’s like the icing on the cake after a fight.
talkSPORT will bring you live and exclusive coverage of UFC 254 this Saturday. Listen on talkSPORT.com from 7 p.m., while coverage will begin on talkSPORT 2 from 8 p.m.