Collier vs Barnett – Round 1

An early knockdown for Collier! He pours on punches now with Barnett backed up against the fence.

Barnett comes back with his head down, swinging for the fences, but Collier is able to evade most of the strikes!

Barnett has also been cut above his left eye after a couple of nasty elbows. The blood is leaking into the eye.

Barnett tries to get back to basics, throwing some low kicks, and Collier is already slowing down after that early onslaught.

Here we go!

The regular prelim card begins with Jake Collier vs Chris Barnett at heavyweight!

Barnett actually came in at 267.5lbs on Friday, over the heavyweight limit.

Welcome to our round-by-round live coverage of the UFC 279 prelims!

First up, here are the early prelim results:

Norma Dumont def. Danyelle Wolf via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Alatengheili def. Chad Anheliger via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Elise Reed def. Melissa Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 29-28)

Yohan Lainesse def. Darian Weeks via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

We’re just 10 minutes away from the UFC 279 prelims!

We’ll have all the early prelim results for you very shortly, before we begin our round-by-round coverage of the remaining prelims and then the main card – so, sit tight!

Here is a look back at the moment Chimaev missed weight, before the UFC 279 card was (rejigged and) saved:

Want to know how to watch tonight’s fights?

UFC 279 will air live on BT Sport in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the bouts.

In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass.

More information here:

Here is a look at the odds for tonight’s final three fights, all of which feature the six men who were originally supposed to be involved – just not against the opponents that they are now facing!

Diaz – 1/1; Ferguson – 4/5

Chimaev – 1/5; Holland – 7/2

Li – 6/5; Rodriguez – 4/6

Via Betway.

The UFC 279 early prelims are under way as we speak!

We’ll be providing a round-up of those results a little later on, before we cover the remaining prelim bouts and the main card in depth with round-by-round updates.