There have been several last-minute changes to the line-up for October’s UFC 267, including an expanded main card. Most of the numbered UFC events tend to include just four matches on their main card, so the inclusion of six major bouts on the card for UFC 267 is a bonus for long-time fans of Mixed Martial Arts.

The night will be broadcast on ESPN+ as usual in the United States, with no additional fees or pay-per-view charges being imposed on the night’s entertainment. Of course, ESPN+ is already a subscription-only service, so this isn’t a free-to-air event either – but most of the UFC’s most dedicated fans are likely to already have a subscription in place already.

Top of the Bill

As expected, the biggest fight on the night will be a title fight between the UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and challenger Glover Teixeira. That match had previously been expected to take place at UFC 266 in September but was postponed for unknown reasons – UFC have kept their promise to have this much-anticipated fight top-of-the-bill for UFC 267, however. 

Fight fans last saw Blachowicz defend his title at UFC 259 earlier this year. If you placed a bet that night, you may recall that Blachowicz was seen as an underdog that time around despite having successfully defended his title on four earlier occasions. The -240 favorite was Israel Adesanya, whilst the most common price for Blachowicz was somewhere in the region of +200. 

At the time of writing during the first week of October, the odds being quoted for those interested in UFC fight bets is quite different this time around. Challenger Glover Teixeira is seen as the underdog at UFC 267 and is currently priced at +200 with most bookmakers, whilst the defending champion is enjoying a similar lead to his last challenger at -250. There is still plenty of time for this gap to narrow – or expand – before October 30th, of course!

Petr Yan to feature in secondary title bout

Just a few weeks ago, poster art was circulating naming Yan’s opponent as Aljamain Sterling. This made a lot of sense – Yan and Sterling previously fought at UFC 259 back in March, the same night as Blachowicz last title defense, so a rematch for the Bantamweight belt on the same night as Blachowicz vs. Teixeira appeared to give a logical explanation for the rescheduling of the light heavyweight championship fight.

However, Aljamain Sterling pulled out of the expected rematch on September 27th after struggling during training following recent surgery on his neck. Sterling became the bantamweight champion after Petr Yan was disqualified at UFC 259 but has been branded as a “paper champion” by some fans.

This was due to Yan being utterly dominant during the fight before landing an illegal knee on a grounded Sterling, leading to an immediate disqualification when Sterling was unable to continue the fight. Yan is now due to fight Cory Sandhagen instead of the interim bantamweight title, with the winner to fight Sterling as soon as he has fully recovered.

Yan vs. Sandhagen is not the fight many fans wanted to see, of course, and could be the reason why UFC 267 will not be a pay-per-view event and is expected to be followed by UFC 268 just a week later. Yan is the clear favorite to win the interim title with a current price of -250 with most bookmakers, whilst Sandhagen is a +200 underdog. 

Filling out the Main Card

The lack of a true secondary title fight has no doubt disappointed some, especially those who have made plans to travel to “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi to watch UFC 267 in person. This is, perhaps, the reason for the unusual six-fight Main Card, with the remaining fights now finalized as:

Islam Makhachev (-425) vs. Dan Hooker (+325)

Li Jingliang (-360) vs. Khamzat Chaimaev (+270)

Magomed Ankalaev (-305) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (+230)

There are no odds currently being offered for the sixth fight, Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura, which is surprising given that both men have won all six of their last six matches – it could be one of the nights most exciting spectacles!

Preliminary Card

There are eight further matches filling out the schedule, which will be broadcast at the unusual time of 11am Eastern / 8am Pacific Time due to the event taking place in the United Arab Emirates second city. The preliminary card is as follows:

Amanda Ribas (-143) vs. Virna Jandiroba (+115)

Ricardo Ramos vs. Zubaira Tukhugov

Albert Duraev vs. Roman Kopylov

Shamil Gamzatov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

Makwan Amirkhani vs. Lerone Murphy

Hu Yaozong vs. Alen Amedovski

Magomed Mustafaev vs. Damir Ismagulov

Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Allan Nascimento

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