This weekend, UFC 259 will air three championship fights atop what is an especially loaded card. The PPV event will air on ESPN+ and include a light heavyweight title vs. title bout between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya, a women’s featherweight title bout between Amanda Nundes and Megan Anderson, and a bantamweight title bout between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling.
The high profile event comes just as UFC and DraftKings have agreed to an extensive partnership. DraftKings will become UFC’s first-ever “Official Sportsbook and Daily Fantasy Partner” in the United States and Canada. The deal will allow for in-game promotions, activations, in-broadcast odds integrations, and UFC branding across DraftKings’ daily fantasy and betting products and will possess rights to use official UFC marks and logos.
DraftKings will offer weekly free-to-play UFC games, and that includes a pair of pools this weekend. There is a $10,000 free-to-play pool revolving around the UFC 259 main card and a $1,000 free-to-play pool specific to the featured bout between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya.
The deal will also make DraftKings the presenting partner of the UFC Fight Clock. This is a new and proprietary time-keeping system. The UFC Fight Clock utilizes “state-of-the-art technology, including the most flexible high-definition screens in the world, to provide fighters and fans with the most accurate time-keeping system in combat sports.” All cards will feature up to four UFC Fight Clocks that will provide fighters a view of at least one clock from any vantage point. The UFC Fight Clock makes its debut this weekend during UFC 259: Blachowicz vs. Adesanya.