At some point over the last 48 hours, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) quietly tinkered with its UFC 278 pay-per-view (PPV) lineup, pulling the heavyweight banger between Marcin Tybura and Alexandr Romanov and sending it to the ESPN/ABC/ESPN+ preliminary card this Sat. night (Aug. 20) at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Taking its place? Wu Yanan vs. Lucie Pudilova at 135 pounds.
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LIVE! Watch UFC 278 PPV On ESPN+ Here!
BLOCKBUSTER WELTERWEIGHT REMATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sat., Aug. 20, 2022, for the first time in more than five years, headlined by a blockbuster Welterweight championship bout that will see Kamaru Usman run it back with No. 2-ranked contender, Leon Edwards. In UFC 278’s pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, No. 4-seeded Middleweight contender, Paulo Costa, aims to spoil the return of former 185-pound champion, Luke Rockhold. And last but not least, former Featherweight champion and all-time great, Jose Aldo, returns to Bantamweight action, too!
UFC fans did not react well to the lineup change, insisting it was a “joke” and “literally the difference between buying the PPV or not” for an already “brutal card.” Some fans suggested the opening fight between unheralded light heavyweight bruisers Tyson Pedro and Harry Hunsucker was the bout to poach in favor of “random WMMA fights.”
Read all the dissenting opinions on Twitter below:
It should be noted that Yanan and Pudilova have three “Fight of the Night” bonuses between them so they’ve certainly earned their spot on the PPV main card, it’s just a shame that it came at the expense of Tybura vs. Romanov. UFC PPV events cost $74.99 along with a subscription to ESPN+, so these days, every fight counts.
To see the revised UFC 278: “Usman vs. Edwards 2” fight card and PPV lineup click here.