The evening’s headline clash sees Islam Makhachev put his welterweight title on the line against Irishman Ian Machado Garry, immediately after Mackenzie Dern and Gillian Robertson compete for the women’s strawweight championship.
A series of other mouthwatering bouts are set to take place, with the vast majority of weight divisions represented. There are two lightweight battles on the main card either side of a middleweight meeting between American duo Mansur Abdul-Malik and Dustin Stoltzfus, which promises to be an absorbing watch. The preliminary cards consist of seven bouts in total, while Jeremiah Wells takes on Myktybek Orolbai in the opening contest.
However, the original schedule looked a little different. Having suffered a setback in his recovery from a rib issue, Caio Borralho was forced to cancel his bout with middleweight high-flyer Joe Pyfer. Erin Blanchfield has also sustained an injury, leaving Canadian brawler Jasmine Jasudavicius without an opponent. However, the absence of Geoff Neal hasn’t denied Chidi Njokuani from making another appearance in the Octagon, as 33-year-old Joel Álvarez has stepped in to take the Texan’s place.
The final itinerary change came on Wednesday, when Jose Ochoa pulled out of his fight with Charles Johnson. It’s resulted in two former LFA Flyweight champions going toe-to-toe, as Eduardo Henrique has been drafted in to contest a 130lbs catchweight bout.
UFC 330 – key information
Date: Saturday, 15th August
Start time: Early Preliminaries – 22.30 (BST), Preliminary Card – 00:00 (BST), Main Card – 2:00 (BST)
Venue: Xfinity Mobile Arena (Philadelphia, PA)
Referee: TBC
TV Channels/Live stream: TNT Sports 1/HBO Max (preliminary and main cards), UFC Fight Pass (early preliminary card)
Main Event Odds: Islam Makhachev – 2/7, Ian Machado Garry – 11/4
Odds provided by bet365. The odds, correct at the time of publication, are subject to change.
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Fight Card – UFC 330
We’ve provided a brief preview of the five main card bouts scheduled to take place in Philadelphia this weekend:
Main Event (Welterweight): Islam Makhachev vs. Ian Machado Garry (for title)
Undoubtedly the UFC’s most in-form competitor, Islam Makhachev delivered a record-equalling 16th straight victory when he defeated Jack ‘Della’ Maddalena to acquire the welterweight belt. The only other fighter to have registered as many consecutive wins is Brazilian legend Anderson Silva, who achieved this feat during his epic 2457-day reign as middleweight champion.
The Russian’s triumph over Maddalena also ensured he became the UFC’s 11th multi-division champion, having defended the lightweight title on four successive occasions. The first two wins in this sequence came against Australian ace Alexander Volkanovski, before Makhachev used the same Brabo choke to force Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano into submission.
In fact, the man from Dagestan hasn’t tasted defeat since way back in October 2015, when a stunning jab from Adriano Martins knocked him out.
Had he not been narrowly beaten by Shavkat Rakhmonov in UFC310’s title eliminator match, Ian Machado Garry would have been vying for the welterweight championship much sooner. That gut-wrenching episode at the T-Mobile Arena remains the Irishman’s only loss of his promising MMA career, which has already seen him conquer 17 opponents. His latest victim was Belal Muhammad, who was awarded fewer points by the judging panel throughout an intriguing duel in Qatar.
Women’s Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern vs. Gillian Robertson (for title)
After Zhang Weili vacated the women’s strawweight title ahead of UFC 321, Mackenzie Dern seized her opportunity to acquire the unclaimed belt by defeating Virna Jandiroba. Now she must get past the dangerous Gillian Robertson to extend her stint as champion, after waiting patiently to get her original shot at glory.
Following a mixed bag of results, Dern is currently on a three-match winning streak. The Arizona-born scrapper edged past Loopy Godinez at UFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov thanks to the judges’ unanimous decision, before avenging her 2019 loss to Amanda Ribas by locking the Brazilian in an armbar submission.
Gillian Robertson is also in a rich vein of form, having won each of her last five bouts. Two of those contests were stopped in the second round, as the Canadian knocked out both Polyana Viana and Marina Rodriguez via a series of devastating punches. The last competitor to get the better of her was Tabatha Ricci, who racked up more points than Robertson during their duel at UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria.
Lightweight: Jalin Turner vs. Kauê Fernandes
With four defeats in his last six outings, Jalin Turner is perhaps not in the most confident of moods heading into Saturday’s bout.
However, the Californian did celebrate at the conclusion of his most recent appearance in the Octagon, after his powerful first-round blow ended Edson Barboza’s challenge. Furthermore, Turner recently landed two Performance of the Night awards in relatively quick succession, deploying a textbook guillotine chokehold to overcome Brad Riddell at UFC276 before knocking out Bobby Green in Texas 17 months later.
Meanwhile, Kauê Fernandes has been quietly building his reputation as he navigates the initial stages of his fledgling UFC career. Impressively bouncing back from a disappointing debut defeat to Marc Diakiese, the Brazilian brawler won each of his following three fights. Mohammad Yahya and Harry Hardwick were both disposed of late on in the opening round, while Fernandes was declared the victor after his fight with Guram Kutateladze went the distance.
Middleweight: Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Following his graduation from Dana White’s Contender Series, Mansur Abdul-Malik has enjoyed a positive start to life in the UFC.
The ambitious American delivered a Performance of the Night display on his debut, dismissing Duško Todorović less than three minutes into the first round at UFC Fight Night: Magny vs. Prates. He then prevailed in each of his next three bouts, although the middle victory in this sequence – which materialised when Cody Brundage retired early on in the third round after an accidental clash of heads – was later overturned to a draw. This outcome was due to the application of GAEC regulations, which state that a points decision can not be applied if judges have scored an incomplete round (i.e. the third).
However, some of this momentum was lost at UFC Fight Night: Adesanya vs. Pyfer, as Abdul-Malik was caught by Yousri Belgaroui’s clinched knee towards the end of the evening’s opening middleweight contest.
Dustin Stoltzfus is in the midst of a difficult period, having lost three of his last four tussles. Both of his most recent two defeats came courtesy of the judging panel’s scorecards, with Nursulton Ruziboev and Kelvin Gastelum proving to be the benefactors.
That all means that the Pennsylvanian – who will fight in his native state on Saturday night – hasn’t experienced victory since November 2024, when he vanquished Quebec-born opponent Marc-André Barriault on Canadian soil at UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Albazi.
Lightweight: Edson Barboza vs. Esteban Ribovics
Edson Barboza’s blockbuster triumph over Sodiq Yusuff at UFC on ESPN+ 88 feels like a lifetime ago, given that he’s lost all three of his subsequent fights.
The Brazilian-born pugilist started that run with a main event defeat to Lerone Murphy in his final featherweight clash, before coming up short against Drakkar Klose on his return to the lightweight division. A sequence of clinical blows from Jalin Turner put Barboza on the canvas at UFC323, ending proceedings just two minutes and 24 seconds into the first round.
Despite Barboza’s recent woes, this is a difficult one to call. Having registered just one win from his last three outings, Esteban Ribovics is also looking to rediscover his best form.
‘El Gringo’ succumbed to Mateusz Gamrot’s arm-triangle choke at UFC327, after losing by split-decision against Nasrat Haqparast in a Fight of the Night contest in Las Vegas. However, the Argentinian did beat Elves Brener in between those two bouts, adding to early victories over Kamuela Kirk, Terrance McKinney, and Daniel Zellhuber during his first eighteen months on the UFC circuit.
Full Fight Card – UFC 330
Confirmation of Saturday’s bouts below:
Main Card
Islam Makhachev (Russia) vs. Ian Machado Garry (Ireland)
Mackenzie Dern (USA) vs. Gillian Robertson (USA)
Jalin Turner (USA) vs. Kauê Fernandes (Brazil)
Mansur Abdul-Malik (USA) vs. Dustin Stoltzfus (USA)
Edson Barboza (Brazil/USA) vs. Esteban Ribovics (Argentina)
Preliminary Card
Chidi Njokuani (USA) vs. Joel Álvarez (Spain)
Charles Johnson (USA) vs. Eduardo Henrique (Brazil)
Donte Johnson (USA) vs. Eric McConico (USA)
Vicente Luque (Brazil/USA) vs. Tresean Gore (USA)
Early Preliminary Card
Rafael Tobias (Brazil) vs. Lucas Fernando (Brazil)
Neil Magny (USA) vs. Ramiz Brahimaj (USA)
Jeremiah Wells (USA) vs. Myktybek Orolbai (Kyrgyzstan)
Where to watch on TV or live stream?
TNT Sports is the exclusive home of UFC in the United Kingdom, with customers able to access comprehensive coverage of the world’s most popular MMA discipline.
Viewers can watch events unfold in Philadelphia on TNT Sports 1, where the preliminary bouts will be screened from 00:00 (BST). The focus will then shift to the main card two hours later, as excitement builds ahead of the headline clash between Usman and Buckley. A live feed of UFC330 will be available on HBO Max, the official streaming partner of TNT Sports.
The early preliminaries are only available on the UFC Fight Pass application, which can be used on various smart devices. This application is a subscription-only service, with users able to choose either a monthly or annual contract.