Photo by Mikhail Metzel\TASS via Getty Images
Good news for European MMA fans eager to see Khabib Nurmagomedov at a reasonable time of day.
UFC 254 will have a special start time for a special fight.
Dana White confirmed on Tuesday that the October 24th pay-per-view, headlined by the lightweight championship mega-clash between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, will be moved off of its standard 10 PM ET/7 PM PT slot to early afternoon in the United States.
“It will be time-friendly [for the European audience],” White said. “It will happen in the afternoon [in the US).”
This is the second year in a row that Khabib is set to headline a pay-per-view in Abu Dhabi. Last year, his win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 had a main card start time of 2 PM ET/11 AM PT, so we should expect something similar here. UFC 253, which is also in Abu Dhabi and features Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa in the main event, will remain in its normal 10 PM ET timeslot for the main card.
It just goes to show you the star power of Khabib particularly in that region that his fights have twice been moved to afternoon in the US so that he can compete in what is primetime/late night throughout Europe and across Russia, as opposed to the early morning hours that’s standard for most UFC shows.
The UFC will be on Yas Island from September 26th (UFC 253) through UFC 254 (October 24th).