The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view on Saturday, May 12 with UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the main event, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes defends her title for a third time when she faces challenger Raquel Pennington. Nunes enters the bout on a six-fight winning streak, which includes three Performance of the Night performances in her last five outings. Pennington has not fought since Nov. 2016 which was a win over former champion Miesha Tate, but she is on a four-fight winning streak.
The UFC 224 main card also features plenty of local talent, with middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza slotted in the main event alongside former TUF winner Kelvin Gastelum. Jiu-jitsu ace Mackenzie Dern will make her sophomore appearance in the UFC when she faces Amanda Cooper, while a thrilling middleweight scrap between Brazilian mixed martial arts legends Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida will open up the pay-per-view card.
The preliminary card features names like Cezar Ferreira, Oleksiy Oliynyk, Warlley Alves and Thales Leites.
Below is all of the information you will need to catch the event from the opening bout.
UFC 224: Fight Time & Viewing Details
Event: UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington
Date: Saturday, May 12, 2018
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Venue: Jeunesse Arena
Pay-Per-View Card Time: 10:00 P.M. EST
Broadcast: UFC Fight Pass, FX, Pay-per-view
UFC 223 Fight Card
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | |||||||
| Women’s Bantamweight | Amanda Nunes (c) | vs. | Raquel Pennington | for the women’s bantamweight title | |||
| Middleweight | Ronaldo Souza | vs. | Kelvin Gastelum | ||||
| Women’s Strawweight | Mackenzie Dern | vs. | Amanda Cooper | ||||
| Bantamweight | John Lineker | vs. | Brian Kelleher | ||||
| Middleweight | Vitor Belfort | vs. | Lyoto Machida | ||||
| Preliminary Card (FX) | |||||||
| Middleweight | Cezar Ferreira | vs. | Karl Roberson | ||||
| Heavyweight | Oleksiy Oliynyk | vs. | Júnior Albini | ||||
| Lightweight | Davi Ramos | vs. | Nick Hein | ||||
| Welterweight | Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos | vs. | Sean Strickland | ||||
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Warlley Alves | vs. | Sultan Aliev | ||||
| Middleweight | Thales Leites | vs. | Jack Hermansson | ||||
| Welterweight | Alberto Mina | vs. | Ramazan Emeev | ||||
UFC 224 Betting Odds
Odds are currently favoring the champion in a big way, with Nunes set at -470, according to 5Dimes. Pennington, meanwhile, sits at +375.