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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Matt Erickson

UFC Fight Night 254: How to watch Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze, start time, Las Vegas fight card, odds, more

UFC Roman Dolidze Marvin Vettori Las Vegas Chidi Njokuani ESPN Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos Kevin Vallejos Anthony Smith Brendson Ribeiro

The UFC stays in its Las Vegas home base for the third straight week, and in this final one, a former middleweight title challenger is at the top of the lineup.

Here’s how to watch UFC Fight Night 254 with 185-pounders in the headlining spot, plus a fun welterweight scrap in the co-feature.

Broadcast and streaming info

UFC Fight Night 254 has a main card that starts at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+</a. The preliminary card streams on ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET.

Stay tuned for more broadcast details later this week.

Brendan Fitzgerald, Laura Sanko, Michael Bisping

Main event: Marvin Vettori

Record: 19-7-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC
Opponent: Roman Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC)
Division: Middleweight
Key wins: Roman Dolidze, Paulo Costa, Kevin Holland, Jack Hermansson
Misc.: A five-fight winning streak got him a 2021 title shot against then-champ Israel Adesanya. But after that unanimous decision loss, he’s alternated wins and losses – and the setbacks have been against former champs and title challengers. The fight against Dolidze is a rematch from two years ago that Vettori won.

Main event: Roman Dolidze

Record: 14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC
Opponent: Marvin Vettori (19-7-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC)
Division: Middleweight
Key wins: Kevin Holland, Anthony Smith, Jack Hermansson
Misc.: Dolidze had four straight wins and three straight bonuses when he was outworked by Vettori in their first meeting in 2023. He lost a decision to Nassourdine Imavov after that, but now has back-to-back wins over Holland Smith from 2024.

Jun 29, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Roman Dolidze (blue gloves) fights Anthony Smith (red gloves) during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Co-main event: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

Record: 25-8-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC
Opponent: Chidi Njokuani (24-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC)
Division: Welterweight
Key wins: Benoit Saint-Denis, Sean Strickland
Misc.: Zaleski dos Santos got back on track with a 75-second knockout of then-unbeaten Zach Scroggin this past November.

Co-main event: Chidi Njokuani

Record: 24-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC
Opponent: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (25-8-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC)
Division: Welterweight
Key wins: Jared Gooden, Dusko Todorovic, Marc-Andre Barriault
Misc.: After a three-fight skid, Njokuani is back on track with 2024 decision wins over Gooden and Rhys McKee.

UFC debut: Kevin Vallejos

Record: 14-1
Opponent: Seungwoo Choi (11-7 MMA, 4-6 UFC)
Division: Featherweight
Misc.: THe 23-yeard-old took out Cam Teague with a first-round knockout on DWCS to get his UFC shot. His first shot on DWCS resulted in his only loss to date – to current UFC rising star Jean Silva.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 24: (R-L) Kevin Vallejos of Argentina punches Cam Teague in a featherweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season eight, week seven at UFC APEX on September 24, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

UFC debut: Diyar Nurgozhay

Record: 10-0
Opponent: Brendson Ribeiro (16-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC)
Division: Light heavyweight
Misc.: The 27-year-old from Kazakhstan has eight of his 10 wins by stoppage, including six knockouts. One of those came less than a year ago against 2019 $1 million PFL winner Emiliano Sordi.

UFC debut: Josias Musasa

Record: 8-0
Opponent: Carlos Vera (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Division: Bantamweight
Misc.: For the first time in his brief career, Musasa, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, had to go to the judges for a win. But it was on DWCS, and his split call over fellow unbeaten prospect Otari Tanzilovi was enough to get him to the show.

Josias Musasa def Otar Tanzilovi – DWCS 71

UFC debut: Yuneisy Duben

Record: 6-0
Opponent: Carli Judice (3-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Division: Women’s flyweight
Misc.: Born in Venezuela and fighting out of Pittsburgh, the 28-year-old has all her wins by stoppage, including a 73-second KO of Shannon Clark on DWCS to get into the UFC.