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The UFC does not have an event on Saturday, April 1.
After their trip to San Antonio, the top-tier MMA promotion is taking the week off. Since starting their partnership with ESPN in 2019, the Dana White-run business usually has fights every weekend. Unfortunately for MMA fans, that is not the case this weekend.
For combat sports fans looking for some action, there are plenty of other options on Saturday. Starting at 6 p.m. ET, ESPN+ subscribers can watch the first event of the 2023 Professional Fighters League season. The fight card features several intriguing matchups, including Brendan Loughnane vs. Marlon Moraes, Rob Wilkinson vs. Thiago Santos, the rematch between Chris Wade and Bubba Jenkins, and more.
MMA isn’t the only combat sport worth watching on April 1. Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Boxing returns for their fourth event, which can be seen as a $50 pay-per-view on UFC Fight Pass. In the main event, the legendary Roy Jones Jr. returns to the ring against Anthony Pettis. The fight card also features Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens, Vitor Belfort vs. Ronaldo Souza, and 10 other bouts.
There are two more boxing events to check out on Saturday. DAZN is holding an event at the O2 Arena, which is headlined by Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin. Later in the night, Top Rank goes live from the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the WBO featherweight title up for grabs between Robeisy Ramirez and Isaac Dogboe.
For those who enjoy professional wrestling, the two-day WrestleMania event starts on Saturday night and goes down on Peacock. Long story short, there is no shortage of entertaining action to watch before the UFC returns next weekend.
When is the next UFC event?
On April 8, UFC 287 will take place inside the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida. The highly anticipated event is headlined by a title rematch between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira for the middleweight world championship. The rivals met in the octagon for the first time in November 2022, where Pereira dethroned Adesanya with a fifth-round TKO.
In the co-main event, Jorge Masvidal gets the opportunity to fight in front of his hometown crowd against the always dangerous Gilbert Burns. The UFC 287 main card is rounded off by Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez, Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio, and Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Christian Rodriguez. The preliminary fights to watch are Kelvin Gastelum vs. Chris Curtis, Gerald Meerschaert vs. Joe Pyfer, and Chris Barnett vs. Chase Sherman.
