The UFC stages 30 to 35 events per calendar year. Roughly 13 are numbered PPV events. The remaining 17 to 22 are Fight Night cards. The schedule has a steady rhythm once you know how to read it.
The weekly cadence
Saturday is the anchor night for UFC. Both Fight Nights and numbered events almost always run on Saturday evenings. The exceptions are the rare international Fight Nights — UFC Singapore, UFC Saudi Arabia, UFC Macau — where the local-time Saturday card streams to US audiences on Saturday morning or early afternoon Eastern.
Saturday non-PPV cards typically run prelims from 4 to 6 PM Eastern (ESPN+) and the main card from 7 to 10 PM Eastern (ESPN+ or ESPN linear).
Saturday PPV cards (numbered events) run early prelims from 6 to 8 PM Eastern (ESPN+), prelims from 8 to 10 PM Eastern (ESPN+ PPV) and the main card from 10 PM Eastern with ring walks for the headliner around 12:15 AM Eastern (ESPN+ PPV).
Where each card lives
Once you know whether a card is a Fight Night or a numbered event, you know where it streams:
| Card type | Early prelims | Prelims | Main card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fight Night (ESPN linear) | ESPN+ | ESPN+ | ESPN linear |
| Fight Night (ESPN+ exclusive) | ESPN+ | ESPN+ | ESPN+ |
| Numbered event | ESPN+ | ESPN+ PPV | ESPN+ PPV |
The “ESPN+ exclusive” Fight Nights are typically international cards (Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Australia) and lower-profile Fight Nights with developmental main events. There are six to ten of these per year.
How far ahead the schedule is announced
The UFC publishes its schedule in tiers:
- The full year overview drops in mid-December for the following year. It lists each card by date and (where confirmed) by city, but main events are usually placeholders at this stage.
- Confirmed main events are added four to six weeks before each card. The main event is the headline fight that drives the card’s marketing.
- The full fight order is finalised two to three weeks before fight night.
For PPV cards, the schedule cadence is longer. PPV main events are announced eight to fourteen weeks in advance, with the formal press tour beginning four weeks before fight night.
How to find the next confirmed card
The official UFC schedule is at ufc.com/events. This is the authoritative source. ESPN, ESPN+ and the UFC app all mirror this schedule but the ufc.com page updates first when matchups change.
For card-specific viewing routes (which segment is on ESPN+ vs ESPN linear vs PPV), see the broadcaster-by-broadcaster breakdown on each event’s UFC page, or our UFC broadcaster map.
International cards in the US schedule
The UFC stages six to eight international cards per year — UFC Saudi Arabia, UFC Singapore, UFC Macau, UFC Brazil, UFC Mexico, UFC Australia. These cards are streamed live to US audiences but the local-time slot puts them in unusual US viewing windows:
- UFC Saudi Arabia typically runs Saturday afternoon Eastern (early morning Saudi time on Sunday).
- UFC Singapore / Macau / Australia typically run Saturday morning Eastern (Saturday afternoon-evening local).
- UFC Brazil stays in standard Saturday-night Eastern programming.
These are all on ESPN+ with no PPV requirement.