UFC giants like Tyron Woodley, Stephen Thompson, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rashad Evans and Mark Hunt amongst others to take to the Octagon in a night of dramatic rivalry and redemption

This weekend, the SONY ESPN channel will broadcast one of the largest star-stacked fight cards of 2017, UFC 209. This fight marks the return of the UFC to Las Vegas and will be headlined by the highly-awaited rematch between Welterweight champion ‘The Chosen One’ Tyron Woodley and ‘Wonderboy’ Stephen Thomson to determine #therealwinner.  UFC 209 will be telecast 5^th March 2017 at 8.30 am IST, LIVE and Exclusive on the SONY ESPN channel.

With the night promising to be a high-profiled affair, the headliner features fan favorite welterweights, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson. Backing the epic re-match, two incredibly compelling fights follow-up in fight cards featuring Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title; and the heavyweight slugfest in Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt.

Following the headliner fight, UFC 209 will also see former champion Rashad Evans take on aged-but-steely judoka Dan Kelly in the Light Heavyweight category match-up. Also knockout of the Year candidate Lando Vannata will take on knockout specialist David Teymur in a fiery Lightweight Category Clash.

UFC 209 Main Fight Cards:

• Welterweight Title - Tyron Woodley v/s Stephen Thomson

Following last time around, Woodley and Thompson have unfinished business after fighting to a draw during the historic UFC 205 event at Madison Square Garden last November. Slotting an epic 25-minute duel, both fighters won Fight of the Night honors in what many have called one of the best fights of 2016. Woodley came close to finishing “Wonderboy” on several occasions, only to have Thompson survive and keep coming. This time, ‘Wonderboy’ Thomson will go to great extents to win the Welterweight title that he failed to achieve the last time. The former kick boxing phenomena is back this time much stronger with his eyes firmly fixated on the title. For Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, this is the most important fight of his life. After he retained his title at UFC 205, the last few months have been quite eventful for him as Thomson very openly campaigned for a rematch with him to settle unfinished business. It is only obvious that with UFC 209, Woodley will leave no stone unturned in making Thomson pay for the verbal attacks.

• Interim Lightweight Title - Khabib Nurmagomedov v/s Tony Ferguson

Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have been trading verbal jabs back and forth for weeks, but soon will take center stage at the Octagon together to do battle. An interim lightweight champion will be crowned when undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov puts his perfect record on the line against Tony Ferguson, who enters the bout on a nine-fight win streak in arguably the deepest division in the sport. This is a huge fight as it will not only decide the champion but will also decide the fate of these very talented fighters as to who will face the ‘Notorious’ Conor McGregor.

• Light Heavyweight Category - Rashad Evans v/s Daniel Kelly 

Evans (19-5-1), a 37-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champion, will be making his long-awaited middleweight debut.Daniel Kelly (12-1), the 39-year-old Australian Olympic Judoka, has won his last three fights in a row and will be competing in his most high-profile MMA fight to date. Coming out of a long wait, Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans will once will look to get his hands on the title after being medically disqualified at both UFC 205 and UFC 206. But a more versatile Daniel Kelly who stands at an impressive 5-1 under the UFC banner looks forward to spoil Evans’ party.

• Lightweight Category - Lando Vannata v/s David Teymur

This will be a great and fun fight to look out for as both these fighters work their way up the lightweight ladder

• Heavyweight Category - Alistair Overeem v/s Mark Hunt

The only fight with two heavyweights fighting it out for the title. Both the fighters are past their prime, but it is hard to envision Hunt best Overeem, who has an extremely imposing size and strength inching him a little closer tto a title shot. Alistair Overeem has reinvented himself since a rocky start to his UFC career and cemented himself as a strong contender for years to come. Mark Hunt, meanwhile, remains a real-life One-Punch Man, capable of ending a tussle with a single shot that leaves his foe in a twitching heap. With both fighters taking to the Octagon, the fight is definitely one of the must-watch affairs.

Watch UFC 209 on Sunday, 5^th March, 2017 at 8.30 am IST, LIVE and Exclusive on SONY ESPN channel. In case you miss it, you can also catch the repeat telecast of the fight on Sunday, 5^th March 2017 at 9.30pm IST on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD channels.