After a week that has seen the premier MMA promotion company ink a new multi-billion dollar TV deal, as well as firm up plans for an event at the White House, it’s back to business in the Octagon this weekend, with UFC 319 offering up an intriguing middleweight title fight in Chicago. 

Saturday’s main event sees South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis aiming for a third successful title defense in a row as he takes on unbeaten Russian challenger Khamzat Chimaev. 

Du Plessis claimed the title with a win over Sean Strickland at the start of last year and comes into this fight off the back of an unanimous decision victory in a rematch with Strickland at UFC 312 in February. 

Chimaev hasn’t fought since his win over former champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last October, in a devastating performance that saw him dislocate the New Zealander’s jaw in a first-round submission.

Catch all the action live by following our guide to watching UFC 319. 

UFC 319 start time

UFC 319 takes place at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday Aug. 16. The main card gets going at 9 p.m. CDT local time (10 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. PT). Here are all the details for multiple time zones.

US and Canada

• The main card starts Aug. 16, 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT). 
• The prelims start Aug. 16, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT). 
• The early prelims start Aug. 16, 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT).

UK

• The main card starts Aug. 17, 3 a.m. BST. 
• The prelims start Aug. 17, 1 a.m. BST. 
• The early prelims start Aug. 16, 11 p.m. BST.

Australia

• The main card starts Aug. 17, noon. AEST. 
• The prelims start Aug. 17, 10 a.m. AEST. 
• The early prelims start Aug. 17, 8 a.m. AEST.

Main event start time

It’s hard to say exactly when the main event will take place but if you’re looking to only watch the fight between du Plessis and Chimaev, ring walks will start no earlier than midnight ET (9 p.m. PT).

How to watch UFC 319 in the US

While live UFC coverage in the US is set to change hands next year, for the time being ESPN Plus remains its home and the place to head to if you want to watch UFC 319, with Saturday’s card being offered as a pay-per-view event. The cost structure is a bit confusing, but here are the options to watch UFC on ESPN, according to ESPN’s site:

• Existing annual ESPN Plus subscribers can order the upcoming UFC card for $80.
• New ESPN Plus subscribers can buy a bundle of the UFC 319 PPV event (streaming in HD) and an ESPN Plus annual recurring subscription for $135. This is a decent deal. The ESPN Plus annual subscription will auto-renew after one year, at the price of an ESPN Plus annual subscription at the time of auto-renewal.

You can do all of the above at the link below.

How to watch UFC 319 in the UK

MMA fans in the UK can watch all the action from Chicago via TNT Sports and the good news is that unlike some UFC events on the network this event won’t be PPV. Coverage gets underway on TNT Sports 1 with the prelims at 1 a.m. BST in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

TNT Sports is the exclusive UK broadcaster for all numbered UFC events in the UK. You can access TNT Sports in exactly the same way as its predecessor BT Sport, including via Sky Q as a TV package, as well as the option of streaming online. It costs £31 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus’ library of documentary content.

How to watch UFC 319 in Australia

You can watch UFC 319 through Main Event on Foxtel. That means you can also watch online via sports streaming service Kayo for AU$60. 

You can check out the PPV on Kayo in Australia.

How to watch UFC 319 in Canada

UFC 319’s main card is available to watch through a variety of PPV providers, including cable operators such as Bell, Rogers and Shaw, as well as streaming services such as DAZN, Sportsnet Plus and UFC Fight Pass. Whichever option you choose, it’s a PPV fee of CA$70 across the board. 

It’s also worth noting that early prelims will be available to stream via UFC Fight Pass, while the event’s Prelims will be shown on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.

Full fight card

Main card

• Khamzat Chimaev vs. Dricus du Plessis (c) (Middleweight title fight)
• Aaron Pico vs. Lerone Murphy (Featherweight)
• Carlos Prates vs. Geoff Neal (Welterweight)
• Michael Page vs. Jared Cannonier (Middleweight)
• Kai Asakara vs. Tim Elliot (Flyweight)

Prelims

• Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Gerald Meerschaert (Middleweight)
• Loopy Godinez vs. Jessica Andrade (Women’s Strawweight)
• Chase Hooper vs. Alexander Hernandez (Lightweight)

Early prelims

• Edson Barboza vs Drakkar Klose (Lightweight)
• Bryan Battle vs. Nursulton Ruziboev (Middleweight)
• Karine Silva vs. Dione Barbosa (Women’s Flyweight))