And lo, the UFC’s ESPN era is upon us.
In somewhat of a fun house mirror reflection of the UFC’s debut on FOX back in November 2011 that saw heavyweight Cain Velasquez defend his title against Junior dos Santos in the main event, Saturday’s ESPN+ debut card will be headlined by two fighters competing in the promotion’s smallest division, flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and challenger T.J. Dillashaw.
This champion vs. champion matchup — Dillashaw is in his second reign with the bantamweight title — won’t be airing on television, instead it will be the first carrot dangled in front of fight fans to convince them to subscribe to the ESPN+ streaming service.