Getty UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley.
A bantamweight bout between Sean O’Malley and Jose Quinonez will headline the preliminary card of UFC 248, which will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
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In the United States, the early prelims (6:30 p.m. ET) will be exclusively on ESPN+, and the second set of prelims (8 p.m. ET) will be on ESPN. Here’s a rundown of how to watch a live stream of all the preliminary fights online:
How to Watch UFC 248 Prelims Online Without Cable
In the United States, the early prelims won’t be on TV anywhere, but you can watch those fights live on ESPN+:
ESPN+ includes live UFC events and a massive UFC on-demand library, plus other live sports every day, all the 30-for-30 documentaries, and other exclusive content for just $4.99 per month.
Additionally, Adesanya vs Romero and the UFC 248 main PPV card can only be ordered through ESPN+. So, if you plan on watching the early prelims and the main card, you can get a special bundle that includes a year of ESPN+ ($49.99 value) and the UFC 248 PPV ($64.99 value) for $84.98, which works out to about 26 percent savings:
Another option, if you also want the new Disney+ streaming service and Hulu in addition to ESPN+, you can get all three for $12.99 per month, which comes out to 25 percent savings:
Get ESPN+, Disney+ & Hulu Bundle
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can then watch the early prelim fights live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
Sling TV’s “Sling Orange” package comes with 32 channels, including ESPN. Sling is the cheapest streaming service with the ESPN channels if you plan on keeping it long term, but it also comes with a free trial that lasts through March 15:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch the second set of prelims live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the Sling TV app. You can also watch on the ESPN app if you sign in using your Sling TV credentials.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 10 hours of cloud DVR.
Other cable-free, live-stream options that include ESPN: AT&T TV Now, Hulu With Live TV or YouTube TV
UFC 248 Prelims Preview
O’Malley (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) last fought two years ago, when he bested Andre Soukhamthath via unanimous decision at UFC 222.
Since then, he’s been suspended twice for testing positive for ostarine, though Jeff Novitzky, the UFC’s senior vice president of athlete health and performance, recently said he’s “confident” O’Malley’s positive tests stemmed from “a contaminant issue” rather than intentional use, according to Yahoo Sports.
“I’m healthier than I’ve ever been, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been and better than I’ve ever been,” O’Malley said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The two years have been really a blessing.”
Before O’Malley’s first suspension, he and Quinonez (8-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) were slated to meet at UFC 229 in October 2018.
“I feel like I’m going to come out and be faster than he expects,” O’Malley said Thursday, according to MMA Junkie. “He can watch my videos and go, ‘OK, he’s pretty quick.’ But I don’t think you understand how fast I am until I’m in front of you and I hit you with something you literally didn’t see. That’s scary. If someone hits you with something and you don’t know what they hit you with or how they hit you, that’s a scary person to be in front of.”
Since his dashed bout with O’Malley, Quinonez has split a pair of UFC fights, succumbing to Nathaniel Wood’s second-round rear-naked choke a year ago before bouncing back with a decision victory over Carlos Huachin in September.
“He’s flashy and likes to show off, and that speaks about his personality,” Quinonez said Thursday, per MMA Junkie. “He likes to talk and have people look at him, even though he hasn’t done much in the UFC. But the good thing is that everyone gets tested in the octagon, and his quality will be shown in the cage, not outside of it. Everything he does won’t count inside the octagon, so I’m blessed to be fighting him in Las Vegas.”
UFC 248 Main Card (10 p.m. ET)
Middleweight: Israel Adesanya (champion) vs Yoel Romero
Women’s strawweight: Zhang Weili (champion) vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Lightweight: Beneil Dariush vs Drakkar Klose
Welterweight: Neil Magny vs Li Jingliang
Welterweight: Alex Oliveira vs Max Griffin
UFC 248 Prelims (8 p.m. ET)
Bantamweight: Sean O’Malley vs Jose Quinonez
Lightweight: Mark Madsen vs Austin Hubbard
Middleweight: Rodolfo Vieira vs Saparbek Safarov
Middleweight: Gerald Meerschaert vs Deron Winn
UFC 248 Early Prelims (6:30 p.m. ET)
Women’s strawweight: Emily Whitmire vs Polyana Viana
Featherweight: Giga Chikadze vs Jamall Emmers
Bantamweight: Danaa Batgerel vs Guido Cannetti