Here’s what next month’s UFC 234 fight card and bout order looks like.
The UFC’s first pay-per-view of the year is Saturday, February 9th in Melbourne, Australia and the middleweight title will be at stake. Robert Whittaker is set to defend his belt against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event, while rising phenom Israel Adesanya faces the legendary former UFC champion Anderson Silva in the co-main event.
A couple of fights were added to this show, with lightweight prospect Devonte Smith going up against Ma Dong Hyun (formerly known as “Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim) on the main card, while newcomer Marcos Mariano faces the always entertaining Lando Vannata on the preliminary card. There was an original report that Vannata was fighting Charles Rosa, with Lando moving down to 145 lbs, but Rosa is not ready to return, hence it’s Mariano getting the call. The other fight confirmed is welterweight prospect Jalin Turner against Alex Gorgees.
Let’s not beat around the bush, it is an extremely top-heavy PPV in terms of name value. Cross your fingers that nothing happens to either the main event or co-main event, or else we’ve got ourselves a problem. Also of note is that UFC Fight Pass still have exclusive “early PPV prelims” despite the new ESPN deal, so live UFC fights aren’t totally gone from the service.
Here’s the lineup for UFC 234 from the Rod Laver Arena.
Main Card (PPV, 10 PM ET)
Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva
Ricky Simon vs. Rani Yahya
Ma Dong Hyun vs. Devonte Smith
Jim Crute vs. Ryan Spann
Preliminary Card (ESPN, 8 PM ET)
Austin Arnett vs. Shane Young
Montana De La Rosa vs. Nadia Kassem
Kai Kara-France vs. Raulian Paiva
Teruto Ishihara vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 PM ET)
Marcos Mariano vs. Lando Vannata
Alex Gorgees vs. Jalin Turner
Wuliji Buren vs. Jonathan Martinez