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06th Oct 2018

How to watch the Conor/Khabib fight and everything you need to know going in

Dave Hanratty

It’s the biggest fight of the year.

And you may be wondering just how you’re going to go about seeing it.

If you don’t have the right home set-up or the promise of a discreet pub lock-in situation, what will you do?

It’s easy, really. Just follow our quick and clean FAQ with mere hours to go…

When is it on?

The main event of UFC 229 takes place in the early hours of Sunday morning (7 October) for us non-Las Vegas residents, with the main card kicking off at 3am.

Depending on how quick the other four fights finish up, and even then, you can expect Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov be walking out to the Octagon at around 5am.

So pace yourself and all that, it’s going to be a long night.

And how may I watch this sporting contest?

BT Sport 1 is your hook-up, with the broadcaster currently enjoying exclusive UFC rights until 2019 when Dana White’s fighting troupe moves over to Eleven Sports for Ireland and UK viewers.

For now, Eir Sport customers can avail of BT Sport 1 as part of their package.

And why should I care about this fight?

Well, it’s for Khabib’s UFC Lightweight Championship, for one.

Second, it’s Conor McGregor’s first fight since 2016 (c’mon, that Floyd Mayweather publicity stunt hardly counts) so the narrative is a major case of, ‘does he still have it?’ and that’s intrigue enough, surely.

Wait, how and why is Drake involved?

Just showing his support, you know yourself.

Drake Conor McGregor

Right, and what about the hype levels and whatnot?

As you might expect, there has been plenty of trash talk and so forth in recent weeks.

Khabib came after the Irish language, Conor turned the final press conference into his usual loud circus, Zenit St. Petersburg fans got involved and Conor even addressed his da’s fixation with coinage.

UFC, meanwhile, released a decent 45-minute documentary summing up the whole feud:

Clip via UFC

On top of that, they’ve just released the sixth episode in the related Embedded series for you to amp up that excitement factor even further:

Clip via UFC

Lovely stuff.

If I want to bet on this thing, what are the latest odds?

Paddy Power lists Khabib at 4/7 favourite, with McGregor at 6/4.

Okay, who else is fighting?

Fair question. UFC Fight Pass will cover the opening bouts, while BT Sport 1 picks up the action once the preliminary card gets underway.

Main card (3am)

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor (Lightweight title)
Tony Ferguson vs. Anthony Pettis (Lightweight)
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Dominick Reyes (Light heavyweight)
Derrick Lewis vs. Alexander Volkov (Heavyweight)
Michelle Waterson vs. Felice Herrig (Strawweight)

Preliminary card (1am)

Sergio Pettis vs. Jussier Formiga (Flyweight)
Vicente Luque vs. Jalin Turner (Welterweight)
Aspen Ladd vs. Tonya Evinger (Bantamweight)
Scott Holtzman vs. Alan Patrick (Lightweight)

Pre-preliminary card (11pm)

Lina Lansberg vs. Yana Kunitskaya (Bantamweight)
Gray Maynard vs. Nik Lentz (Lightweight)
Ryan LaFlare vs. Tony Martin (Welterweight)

Thanks.

You’re very welcome.