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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Matt Erickson

UFC 295: How to watch two title fights, start time, New York fight card, odds, more

UFC Jiri Prochazka Alex Pereira Sergei Pavlovich Tom Aspinall UFC 295 (Event) Kevin Borjas Jessica Andrade Mackenzie Dern New York

The UFC returns to the mecca of combat sports Saturday for UFC 295 in New York with a pair of title fights at the top of the lineup.

Here’s how to watch UFC 295 with the vacant light heavyweight and interim heavyweight belts on the line.

Broadcast and streaming info

UFC 295 has a main card that begins at 10 p.m. ET and streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view. The prelims stream on ESPNews beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Early prelims stream on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Main event: Jiri Prochazka

Former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will try to recapture the title he never lost when he takes on ex-middleweight champ Alex Pereira in the headliner. Prochazka vacated the title when he suffered an injury that was going to keep him sidelined for an extended period. Ironically, he’s now fighting for a title that came up for grabs when former champ Jamahal Hill vacated it due to an injury, as well. Prochazka has won 13 straight and hasn’t lost in nearly eight years. The former Rizin light heavyweight champ has torn through the UFC in a hurry with three finishes and four post-fight bonuses, but he’s fought just once per year in the UFC.

Main event: Alex Pereira

Jul 29, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Jan Blachowicz (red gloves) fights Alex Pereira (blue gloves) during UFC 291 at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

After Alex Pereira (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) lost the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in a rematch, he moved up to light heavyweight and took a split decision from ex-champ Jan Blachowicz in July. Now he’s thrust right back into a title fight and will try to become the ninth two-division champion in UFC history.

Co-main event: Sergei Pavlovich

Dec 3, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Sergei Pavlovich (blue gloves) reacts after the fight against Tai Tuivasa (red gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Sergei Pavlovich (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) lost his UFC debut to Alistair Overeem in 2018. It was the first, and so far only, loss of his pro career. Since then, he has been on an absolute tear through the UFC’s heavyweight division with six straight knockout wins – all in the first round. (It’s hard to not wonder about the possibilities had Pavlovich not been on the sidelines for around 30 months during his current run.) After huge wins over Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa and Curtis Blaydes, Pavlovich has a shot at a UFC title when he takes on Tom Aspinall.

Co-main event: Tom Aspinall

Jul 22, 2023; London, UNITED KINGDOM; Tom Aspinall (red gloves) prior to the fight against Marcin Tybura (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. Mandatory Credit: Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

After a year on the sidelines with a knee injury, Tom Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) returned with a bang in July and put away Marcin Tybura in 73 seconds in their London headliner. Just a year prior, Aspinall headlined in London against Curtis Blaydes, but blew his knee out 15 seconds into the fight. Aspinall has six UFC finishes, including five in the first round, and five post-fight bonus awards. He’s a slight favorite to win his first UFC title to set up a fight with the eventual winner of champion Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.

Featured bout: Jessica Andrade vs. Mackenzie Dern

Former women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (24-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) is at a critical juncture of her career. She has gone just 4-6 after she won the belt in 2019, and she’s currently mired in the first three-fight skid of her career, all of which have been stoppage setbacks, and all in 2023.

To keep from going 0-4 in the calendar year, Andrade has a tough task in U.S.-born Brazilian Mackenzie Dern (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC), one of the world’s best jiu-jitsu practitioners. Dern has alternated wins and losses her past five fights, but is coming off a win over Angela Hill in a Fight of the Night main event in May.

UFC debut: Kevin Borjas

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 08: (L-R) Kevin Borjas of Peru punches Victor Dias of Brazil in a flyweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season seven, week one at UFC APEX on August 08, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Powers/Zuffa LLC)

Kevin Borjas (9-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), from Peru, will make his UFC debut against Joshua Van (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at flyweight on the prelims. Borjas beat Victor Dias on Dana White’s Contender Series in August. Van was supposed to fight him on that card, but took a short-notice UFC opportunity instead. Now that they’re both in the UFC, they’ll try again. Borjas has eight of his nine pro wins by knockout, but Van is more than a 2-1 betting favorite.

Pay-per-view main card betting odds

Aug 5, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Jessica Andrade (red gloves) fights Tatiana Suarez (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

Jiri Prochazka (+105) vs. Alex Pereira (-125) – for vacant light heavyweight title
Sergei Pavlovich (+100) vs. Tom Aspinall (-120) – for interim heavyweight title
Jessica Andrade (+160) vs. Mackenzie Dern (-190)
Matt Frevola (+175) vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (-190)
Diego Lopes (+115) vs. Pat Sabatini (-135)