The Fights You Have to Watch This Weekend

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If you can’t find anything good to watch on television this weekend, your remote must be broken. The combat sports gods have spoiled us with action-packed cards loaded with some of the biggest names in boxing and mixed martial arts. Multiple world championship bouts, violent rematches and the return of one of the greatest boxers of all-time headline a slate fans should never forget. With all the great fights set to air this weekend, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which ones are worth your time.

Here are the 10 fights you need to watch this weekend:

Dakota Ditcheva vs. Sumiko Inaba

Location: GrandWest Arena | Cape Town, South Africa
Time: Saturday; 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT
How to Watch: ESPN+
What to Know: The new face of women’s MMA returns when 2024 Professional Fighters League women’s flyweight champion Dakota Ditcheva (14-0) puts her unblemished record on the line against Bellator MMA veteran Sumiko Inaba (8-1) in the 2025 2025 PFL Africa 1 co-main event. Ditcheva is coming off her second-round annihilation of Taila Santos and will be looking to add another highlight-reel knockout to her ledger against a scrappy veteran who also likes to come forward and trade.

Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier

Location: Smoothie King Center | New Orleans
Time: Saturday; 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
How to Watch: ESPN+ Pay-Per-View
What to Know: UFC 318 serves as the swan song for a future hall of famer and lightweight legend in Poirier, and there’s no better way to send him out than a rubber match against one of his greatest rivals. Holloway (26-8) fell short of reclaiming the UFC featherweight crown, but he’s back to defend his symbolic BMF belt against the man who has had his number. Poirier submitted Holloway in the first round when they were both rising prospects in 2012, then beat him again by decision seven years later at UFC 236. Poirier (30-9) hasn’t fought since losing to former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev 13 months ago. Still, the Louisiana native would love to call it a career in front of his rowdiest supporters.

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois

Location: Wembley Stadium | London
Time: Saturday; 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. ET
How to Watch: DAZN Pay-Per-View
What to Know: Usyk—the WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion—looks to regain his undisputed status when he challenges the IBF champion in Dubois. The last time they faced one another, the fight was marred by controversy after Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) dropped Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) with a shot on the beltline in the fifth round. Despite Dubois claiming the punch wasn’t low, referee Luis Pabon gave Usyk nearly four minutes to recover from the blow. Usyk would recover to drop Dubois in the eighth round before putting him away for good in the ninth. The stock of both fighters has risen significantly since the first encounter. Usyk became the No. 1 pound-for-pound best fighter in the world with back-to-back wins over Tyson Fury, while Dubois claimed the IBF belt with a shocking fifth-round knockout of Anthony Joshua.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios

Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena | Las Vegas
Time: Saturday; 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
How to Watch: Amazon Prime Pay-Per-View
What to Know: No boxer of the 21st century has captured the imagination of the fans like Pacquiao. The only eight-division champion in the history of the sport, he has time and again defied the odds in breathtaking fashion. However, after a nearly four-year retirement, can the 46-year-old Pacquiao expect to dethrone a WBC champion in Mario Barrios. The 30-year-old Barrios (29-2-1,18 KOs) is 16 years Pacquiao’s junior and boasts a six-inch height advantage. While Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) has beaten fighters far greater than Barrios, he’s still years past his prime.

Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov

Location: Smoothie King Center | New Orleans
Time: Saturday; 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
How to Watch: ESPN+ Pay-Per-View
What to Know: Costa’s career has gone off the deep end since he contended for the UFC middleweight title in 2020. Costa (14-4) has lost four of his last five fights and hasn’t fought in over a year. A title shot is clearly out of the picture, but he remains one of the most popular fighters on the roster and a worthy target for any contender hoping to rise in the standings. Kopylov (14-3) is a knockout artist coming off a last-second TKO of Chris Curtis in January. He could be knocking on the door to the Top 10 with another impressive victory at UFC 318.

Dan Ige vs. Patricio Freire

Location: Smoothie King Center | New Orleans
Time: Saturday; 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
How to Watch: ESPN+ Pay-Per-View
What to Know: Two of the most violent featherweights of all-time are set to throw down in a three-round barnburner. “50K” Ige (19-9) is coming off the heels of another highlight-reel-worthy knockout, as he stopped Sean Woodson at UFC 314. Freire (36-8) may have embarked on a hall-of-fame career in Bellator, but “Pitbull” is still looking to bite into his first victory as a UFC fighter. It doesn’t take much to get these two warriors going, and this fight promises to be explosive for as long as it lasts.

Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora

Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena | Las Vegas
Time: Saturday; 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
How to Watch: Amazon Prime PPV
What to Know: Tszyu (25-2, 18 KOs) fought a dangerous and lanky late replacement in Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs) in March 2024. Tszyu’s WBO junior middleweight belt was on the line, along with the vacant WBC title. After coming out to a strong start, Tszyu had his momentum halted by an accidental elbow that opened a gnarly gash over his forehead. In hindsight, Tszyu’s corner should have opted to call the bout and go to a no contest. However, Tszyu forged on and fought a hellacious fight with blood impairing his vision. Fundora capitalized and etched out a split decision, claiming the titles. This time around, it will be Tszyu who is challenging Fundora for the WBC belt.

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Johnny Eblen vs. Costello van Steenis

Location: GrandWest Arena | Cape Town, South Africa
Time: Saturday; 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. ET
How to Watch: ESPN+
What to Know: A former Bellator champion in Eblen puts his unblemished (16-0) record on the line against the athletic and awkward van Steenis, as they duke it out for the PFL Champions Series middleweight crown. Van Steenis has never been stopped and is coming off a destructive first-round knockout, but Eblen has been the gold standard of the division outside the UFC for years. Expect a prolific clash of styles.

A.J. McKee vs. Akhmed Magomedov

Location: GrandWest Arena | Cape Town, South Africa
Time: 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT
How to Watch: ESPN+
What to Know: McKee (22-2) returns to the featherweight division for the first time since 2022. He is one of the most skilled fighters on the PFL roster, but the onetime Bellator champion could use a bounce-back win after dropping a split decision to Paul Hughes in October. Magomedov (10-1) is a skilled wrestler from Dagestan looking to ruin McKee’s return to the cage and cement himself as a rising contender worth monitoring.

Corey Anderson vs. Denis Goltsov

Location: GrandWest Arena | Cape Town, South Africa
Time: 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT
How to Watch: ESPN+
What to Know: An ex-Bellator champion at 205 pounds, Anderson (18-6) moves up a division to throw down with Goltsov (36-8), the 2024 PFL heavyweight champion. While Anderson is the more accomplished and well-known fighter, he’s giving up massive size to a man who is a finishing machine. Goltsov boasts 18 knockouts and 12 submissions on his record and seldom lets fights go out of the first round.