Written By: MMAjunkie Staff
After the Christmas holiday break, the UFC returns to pay-per-view on Saturday with “UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier” in Las Vegas – its first offering of 2015.
Check out the full fight card, including the start times, as well as the extended video preview of the events.
UFC 182 place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 182 features a championship headliner between long-reigning light heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones and challenger and fierce rival Daniel Cormier. The fighters, who are ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, originally were supposed to meet at UFC 178 in September before an injury kept Jones out a little longer.
In the buildup to that scheduled fight, the two got into an on-stage altercation that turned into a short brawl that saw them fall off the stage throwing punches at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
WEDNESDAY OPEN WORKOUTS: Workouts for fighters in the main and co-main events take place at MGM Grand and are free and open to the public. Cormier will work out at 11:30 a.m. PT local time. Co-main event lightweight Donald Cerrone works out at noon, followed by opponent Myles Jury at 12:30 p.m. and Jones at 1 p.m.
FRIDAY WEIGH-INS: Weigh-ins for UFC 182 take place Friday at Marquee Ballroom at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Along with the official weigh-in event, recent UFC signee and former WWE standout wrestler Phil “CM Punk” Brooks will host a Q&A session for members of the UFC Fight Club. Brooks signing came under fire from many critics, including UFC lightweight Nate Diaz, who had plenty to tell MMAjunkie in Phoenix last week about the move. (Don’t miss the must-see video of Diaz’s epic rant.) Doors for the festivities open at 1:30 p.m. PT local time. Punk will take the stage for his Q&A at 2 p.m. PT. The public also is invited to the weigh-in ceremony. The first fighter steps on the scale at 4 p.m. PT local time, and doors open to the public at 3 p.m.
The full UFC 182 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier – for UFC light heavyweight title
- Donald Cerrone vs. Myles Jury
- Nate Marquardt vs. Brad Tavares
- Louis Gaudinot vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Josh Burkman vs. Hector Lombard
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
- Danny Castillo vs. Paul Felder
- Marcus Brimage vs. Cody Garbrandt
- Jared Cannonier vs. Shawn Jordan
- Rodrigo Damm vs. Evan Dunham
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)
- Omari Akhmedov vs. Mats Nilsson
- Alexis Dufresne vs. Marion Reneau
