UFC Fight Night, headlined by the main event featuring Jan Blachowicz vs. Alexander Rakic in a UFC light heavyweight bout, takes place at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 14, 2022 (5/14/2022). How to watch UFC Fight Night: Jan Blachowicz vs. Alexander Rakic | FREE LIVE STREAM, fight card, time, TV channel

Watch Full Fight Live: https://cutt.ly/JHkje4L

Watch Full Fight Live: https://cutt.ly/JHkje4L

UFC Fight Night predictions -- Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic: Fight card, start time, odds, live stream

The pair of light heavyweight contenders meet in the main event on Saturday night with many implications

On Saturday night, former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz returns to the Octagon for the first time since losing his title when he takes on Aleksandar Rakic. The two men meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The entire event will be broadcast on ESPN 2 and ESPN+. Fans can watch online for free via a trial of fuboTV or with a subscription to ESPN+.

ESPN is the exclusive home of UFC in the United States. Along with pay-per-view events exclusively available on ESPN+, the station’s main channel will host events on a regular basis. A majority of the promotions events are broadcast on ESPN+.

Here’s what you need to know:

What: UFC Fight Night

Main Event: Jan Blachowicz vs. Alexander Rakic

When: Saturday, May 14, 2022

Where: UFC Apex

Main Card Time: 10 p.m. ET

Prelims Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN 2

Below is the entire line-up for UFC Fight Night:

Main Card (10 p.m. ET, ESPN 2, fuboTV, ESPN+)

Light Heavyweight: Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Light Heavyweight: Ryan Spann vs. Ion Cutelaba

Bantamweight: Davey Grant vs. Louis Smolka

Women’s Flyweight: Katlyn Chookagian vs. Amanda Ribas

Lightweight: Frank Camacho vs. Manuel Torres

Flyweight: Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento

Prelims (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2, fuboTV, ESPN+)

Women’s Flyweight: Viviane Araujo vs. Andrea Lee

Lightweight: Michael Johnson vs. Alan Patrick

Women’s Strawweight: Virna Jandiroba vs. Angela Hill

Flyweight: Tatsuro Taira vs. Carlos Candelario

Middleweight: Nick Maximov vs. Andre Petroski

Blachowicz charged to the top of the light heavyweight pack when Jon Jones' planned move to heavyweight and vacating of the 205-pound championship left the division without a top dog. Blachowicz followed up a knockout of Corey Anderson with a dominant, one-sided stoppage of Dominick Reyes to win the vacant title.

After an impressive performance in fending off middleweight champion Israel Adesanya's attempt to become a two-division champion, it seemed Blachowicz was set for a long reign as light heavyweight king. Then came a UFC 267 clash with Glover Teixeira this past October, a fight that saw Blachowicz finished in the second round as the 42-year-old Teixeira snatched the championship.

Blachowicz was set for a fairly quick turnaround as he was scheduled to fight Rakic in January. Blachowicz then suffered a neck injury that left him unable to feel or move the left side of his body, forcing the fight to be delayed several months.

Jan Blachowicz is back in action for the first time since losing his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship belt against Glover Teixeira at UFC 267. He takes on the Austrian Aleksandar Rakic, who last fought in March 2021 when he defeated Thiago Santos.

The fight between Blachowicz and Rakic was originally due to take place in March, but Blachowicz withdrew due to injury and the bout was postponed. Elsewhere on the card, and further down the UFC Light Heavyweight rankings, Ryan Spann and Ion Cutelaba square off looking to gain some momentum in the division.

England will also be represented on the night by Darlington-born Davey Grant who takes on the American Louis Smolka.

Jan Blachowicz is out to work his way back to the UFC light heavyweight title, and his journey begins with a fight against Aleksandar Rakic this weekend.

Blachowicz (28-9) lost the belt to Glover Teixeira in October, in the Pole’s first defence of the gold that he won in 2020. At 39, Blachowicz does not have much time to regain the title, and his path back to the top will likely be a difficult one.