It's springtime, which means the UFC returns to FOX as UFC on FOX 24 takes place from the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
The main event features Demetrious Johnson defending the UFC flyweight championship against Wilson Reis. In the co-main event, in women's strawweight action, Rose Namajunas goes up against Michelle Waterson. Then, in a key middleweight bout, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza battles Robert Whittaker.
Johnson (25-2-1, undefeated in his last 12 fights) is regarded as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world today. With a win over Reis, Johnson will tie Anderson Silva's record for most consecutive title defenses with 10.
Reis (22-6) got into this position by winning three consecutive fights over Dustin Ortiz, Hector Sandoval and Ulka Sasaki. A win by Reis would be regarded among the biggest upsets in UFC history.
Namajunas (6-3) is a former strawweight title challenger has won three of her last four fights but came up short in her last bout losing by unanimous decision to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in July.
Waterson (14-4), a former Invicta FC atomweight champion, has won her two fights inside the octagon. She took the MMA world by storm, beating Paige VanZant by first-round submission at UFC on FOX back in December.
Souza (24-4, 1 NC) is regarded as the best middleweight in the world who hasn't yet received a shot at middleweight champion Michael Bisping. The No. 3 middleweight signed a new eight-fight contract on Friday goes into Saturday night having won 10 of his last 11 fights.
Whittaker's (18-4) quietly won six consecutive fights to get himself into the conversation of one of the top 185-pound fighters in the UFC. The winner of this fight can make a case for next in line to face Bisping.
Here's all you need to know about UFC on Fox. (NOTE: all times ET)
Johnson vs. Reis start time
Main card coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET. Johnson and Reis are expected to enter the octagon at around 9:30 p.m. Preliminary fights begin at 4 p.m.
Johnson vs. Reis channel
Preliminary fights can be seen on FOX at 6 p.m. The main card is on FOX and starts at 8 p.m.
Johnson vs. Reis online
You can watch the first five fights of the card for UFC.com's Fight Pass members beginning at 4 p.m. The remaining preliminary and the entire main card fights can be seen on the FOX Sports Go app.
Who else is fighting on UFC on Fox?
Main Card
— Demetrious Johnson (c) vs. Wilson Reis for the UFC Flyweight Championship
— Rose Namajunas vs. Michelle Waterson; Women's Strawweight
— Ronaldo Souza vs. Robert Whittaker; Middleweight
— Jeremy Stephens vs. Renato Moicano; Featherweight
Preliminary Card
— Alexander Volkov vs. Roy Nelson; Heavyweight
— Patrick Williams vs. Tom DuQuesnoy; Bantamweight
— Bobby Green vs. Rashid Magomedov; Lightweight
— Tim Elliott vs. Louis Smolka; Flyweight
— Aljamain Sterling vs. Augusto Mendes; Bantamweight
— Devin Clark vs. Jake Collier; Light Heavyweight
— Anthony Smith vs. Andrew Sanchez; Middleweight
— Zak Cummings vs. Nathan Coy; Welterweight
— Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Ketlen Vieira; Women's Bantamweight
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can find his podcast, "The Fight Club Chicago," and subscribe on iTunes. You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA.
