The Ultimate Fighting Championship is set for their first card on ESPN in Phoenix. The main event will feature former UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez making his long-awaited return to the Octagon to take on former title challenger Francis Ngannou.
Velasquez last fought at UFC 200 back in July 2016, where he defeated Travis Browne by TKO in the first round. Meanwhile, Ngannou got a very important win over Curtis Blaydes in November in just 44 seconds. Before that, he had a disastrous fight against Derrick Lewis and lost to Stipe Miocic for the belt.
The co-main event features a battle of two lightweights as James Vick takes on Paul Felder.
UFC on ESPN 1 main card kicks off Sunday at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT) live on ESPN. The televised prelims will start at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) on ESPN, and the early prelims will be streamed via ESPN+ beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT).
The full fight card for UFC on ESPN 1 is below.
Main Card
Francis Ngannou vs. Cain Velasquez — heavyweightPaul Felder vs. James Vick — lightweight
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Cortney Casey-Sanchez — strawweight
Alex Caceres vs. Kron Gracie — featherweight
Vicente Luque vs. Bryan Barberena — welterweight
Andre Fili vs. Myles Jury — featherweight
Prelims
Jimmie Rivera vs. Aljamain Sterling — bantamweightBenito Lopez vs. Manny Bermudez — bantamweight
Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Andrea Lee — flyweight
Scott Holtzman vs. Nik Lentz — lightweight
Early Prelims
Jessica Penne vs. Jodie Esquibel — strawweightRenan Barao vs. Luke Sanders — bantamweight
Aleksandra Albu vs. Emily Whitmire — strawweight