Author: Anton Tabuena

Photo by Mike Stobe/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Watch the live stream of UFC 242’s early and official weigh ins.

The UFC is hosting a PPV event in Abu Dhabi, with the card headlined by a highly anticipated title unification bout between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champ Dustin Poirier.

Before any of the bouts become official though, the fighters first have to tip the scales at their contracted weights. Khabib has had weight issues in the past, so this is one to keep an eye out for during the event.

The early — and official — weigh ins go live at 1 a.m. ET.

The ceremonial weigh ins happen later in the day, at 10 a.m. ET, and you can check that out along with the full fight card below:

UFC 242 PPV Main card

Khabib Nurmagomedov (155) vs. Dustin Poirier (155)

Edson Barboza (155.5) vs. Paul Felder (155)

Islam Makhachev (155) vs. Davi Ramos (156)

Curtis Blaydes (251) vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov (257)

Mairbek Taisumov (156) vs. Diego Ferreira (156)

FX Prelims

Joanne Calderwood (126) vs. Andrea Lee (126)

Zubaira Tukhogov (146) vs. Lerone Murphy (146)

Liana Jojua (134.5) vs. Sarah Moras (138*)

Ottman Azaitar (156) vs. Teemu Packalen (156)

Fight Pass Prelims

Belal Muhammad (170) vs. Takashi Sato (171)

Nordine Taleb (170) vs. Muslim Salikhov (171)

Omari Akhmedov (186) vs. Zak Cummings (185.5)

Don Madge (155) vs. Fares Ziam (155)

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Greg Hardy will have his fourth UFC bout this October, and he isn’t exactly getting a step up in competition.

Greg Hardy’s next UFC bout will happen in Singapore. The disgraced NFL veteran turned MMA fighter has compiled a 5-1 record as a professional fighter, and has gone 2-1 in the UFC so far.

News of his booking comes from officials in Asia, noting that Hardy’s fourth MMA fight will happen at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on October 26. He will be facing Jarjis Danho (5-1-1), a Syrian heavyweight, who will be coming off a three year layoff from fighting. Now 35-years-old, Danho went 0-1-1 in his two-fight stint with the UFC in 2016 and hasn’t competed since.

After a disqualification loss on his UFC debut, Hardy has notched two straight TKO wins against Juan Adams and Dmitry Smolyakov.

Also official for the Singapore card is a bout between exciting lightweights Beneil Dariush and Frank Camacho (22-7). The Guamanian in Camacho is coming off a TKO win over Nick Hein last June, while the Iranian-American in Dariush is coming off two straight victories including a submission over Drew Dober last March.

UFC Fight Night: Singapore will be headlined by an intriguing welterweight bout between top grapplers in Ben Askren and Demian Maia.

The current fight card is as follows.

Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren

Michael Johnson vs. Stevie Ray

Greg Hardy vs. Jarjis Danho

Beniel Dariush vs. Frank Camacho

Cyril Gane vs. Don’Tale Mayes

Sergei Pavlovich vs. Maurice Greene

Watch the UFC 242 main event bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier get previewed in-depth.

UFC 242 is coming up, and the promotion has released their trademark Countdown show to preview the highly anticipated pay-per-view. Watch the clip above as it goes in depth on the main event title unification bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, along with the co-headliner in Edson Barboza vs Paul Felder.

A lightweight title unification bout takes center stage at UFC 242 between undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Dustin Poirier. Plus, Paul Felder rematches Edson Barboza. See these athletes prepare and train for their bouts. UFC 242 goes down at 2PM ET/11AM PT on Saturday, September 7.

The full UFC 242 fight card is as follows:

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier

Paul Felder vs. Edson Barboza

Islam Makhachev vs. Davi Ramos

Curtis Blaydes vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov

Mairbek Taisumov vs. Diego Ferreira

Joanne Calderwood vs. Andrea Lee

Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Lerone Murphy

Sarah Moras vs. Liana Jojua

Teemu Packalén vs. Ottman Azaitar

Belal Muhammad vs. Takashi Sato

Nordine Taleb vs. Muslim Salikhov

Zak Cummings vs. Omari Akhmedov

Don Madge vs. Fares Ziam

Photo by Yifan Ding/Getty Images

Expect the UFC to put the marketing machine behind their first Chinese champion.

It only took 42 seconds for Weili Zhang to pull off an impressive upset and become the UFC’s first Chinese champion. With the huge victory likely being a major catalyst in the promotion’s expansion in the region, Dana White naturally sang her a lot of praises after the TKO over now former champion Jessica Andrade.

“Weili told me tonight that she wants to fight as much as possible, which I love. And I can tell you this going into this fight with Jessica Andrade, nobody wanted to fight Weili Zhang. Nobody wanted to fight her,” White said at the post-fight press conference (transcript via MMA Fighting) “Now she’s the champion, so if you want a shot at that belt, you have to fight her.

“She looked like a world champion tonight. She looked like one of the most vicious women on planet Earth tonight. She looked incredible”

White says he expects to host Zhang’s first title defense in the United States.

“Tonight, Weili Zhang’s performance was so good and so big, people were watching this fight in Canada, the United States, Brazil, the Middle East. Weili Zhang became a huge star tonight globally, not just here in China,” he said.

“And obviously, the first-ever Chinese world champion. She’s still very fresh and young in her career, we’ll see what is in store for her, but she’s off to a good start.”

The UFC has been criticized in the past for not marketing some of their champions well, but it’s likely going to be the complete opposite for Weili’s case. There’s so much money to be made, especially as they try to break through the lucrative Chinese market. If White’s statements aren’t enough of a hint already, expect the UFC’s marketing machine to be in full force as they try to push their first ever Chinese champion to new heights.

The Chinese audience goes all in on their champions and international superstars, so it is also smart for the UFC to heavily promote and push Zhang in the US (and global) market as well.

Photo by Zhe Ji/Getty Images

Weili Zhang is your new UFC strawweight champion.

China has their first UFC champion.

Outside the cage, this will be absolutely massive for the UFC’s business as they expand to that massive market in China. Inside the cage, it was just as impressive.

Jessica Andrade tried to walk her down like she does for everyone, but Weili Zhang was quicker and apparently just as dangerous inside. Weili landed two big punches, and followed up with a barrage of shots from inside the clinch. It only took 42 seconds for the Chinese star to beat a feared knockout artist and win the belt.

Taking that championship was a big win for Zhang, and it’s an even bigger win for the UFC’s wallets.

Li Jingliang looked great on the co-main event, making it 2-0 for the two local stars on the top of the card. While Li has this reputation of always getting rocked on each of his bouts, his defense and footwork was terrific for this contest. Zaleski Dos Santos’ shots kept falling just out of range, and Li hurt him on the shots he were able to land clean. A clean uppercut hurt him and a subsequent flurry got Li the late TKO win to the delight of his home country fans.

• Kai Kara-France impressed on his flyweight bout with Mark De La Rosa. His kicks were just faaaaaast, and coupled with his feints and movements, it was pretty fun to watch. The top 10 flyweight extends his win streak to eight. It has been pretty fun to see him grow from a sub .500 teenager that I used to watch in Hong Kong, to a UFC contender at 26.
• Song Kenan continues to be a fun action fighter, and got another win for China, but he still has a lot of holes to fix in his game. He also tired at the end of their bout.
• Mizuki Inoue overcame a pretty large size disadvantage — she’s normally a 115 lb’er who moved up against Wu Yanan who then badly missed weight at 129 lbs — and won a decision, showing that her technique is more than enough to survive that gap.
• Su Mudaerji had a pretty impressive performance in the prelims. He was very mobile on the feet, and just absolutely picked apart Andre Soukhamthath on the feet. If he shores up his ground game even more, this 23-year-old could be a legitimate prospect for China.
• Although it may not have much of an impact in the rankings, there were fun contests in the prelims for the card. Anthony Hernandez and Da Un Jung both had to go through some adversity on their respective bouts, before getting their submission wins — an anaconda for Hernandez, and a modified guillotine for Jung.

Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

One fighter missed weight from the UFC’s event in Mainland China.

The UFC is hosting an event in Mainland China, and the early and official weigh ins have been concluded for the card headlined by a strawweight title bout. Champion Jessica Andrade tipped the scales at 114.5 lbs, while her opponent, Chinese star Weili Zhang stepped in exactly at the limit of 115 lbs.

One fighter from the event missed weight, with Wu Yanan tipping the scales at 129 lbs. With the one pound allowance for non-title bouts, that would be three pounds over the flyweight limit. She will forfeit 30% of her purse to her opponent Mizuki Inoue, who came in at 125 lbs.

The rest of the fighters made weight, and you can check out the full results below:

Main card (ESPN+ 6 a.m. ET)

Jessica Andrade (114.5) vs Zhang Weili (115)

Li Jingliang (171) vs Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (170.5)

Kai Kara-France (126) vs Mark De La Rosa (125.5)

Lv Zhenhong (146)vs Movsar Evloev (146)

Wu Yanan (129)* vs Mizuki Inoue (125)

Prelims (ESPN 3 a.m. ET)

Song Kenan (170.5) vs Derrick Krantz (169)

Jun Yong Park (186) vs Anthony Hernandez (185)

Su Mudaerji (136) vs Andre Soukhamthath (136)

Da Un Jung (206) vs Khadis Ibragimov (206)

Damir Ismagulov (155.5) vs Thiago Moises (156)

Alateng Heili (136) vs Danaa Batgerel (136)

Karol Rosa (135.5) vs Lara Procopio (135)

The ceremonial weigh ins will happen starting at 7 a.m. ET, and you can watch the live stream of it on the video embed below.