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The Ultimate Fighting Championship is returning to Philadelphia.

On Saturday, Xfinity Mobile Arena will host UFC 330, the first time the city has hosted a numbered event since 2011. Saturday’s 12-fight slate includes two title bouts. In the women’s strawweight division, Brazil’s Mackenzie Dern will defend her title against Canada’s Gillian Robertson. Then, Russia’s Islam Makhachev is slated to take on Irish challenger Ian Machado Garry in the men’s welterweight championship.

Here’s everything you need to know:

What’s at stake in the title fights?

Saturday will be the first time Makhachev is putting his title on the line after winning it at UFC 322 in November.

Makhachev (28-1-0) is a two-weight world champion and currently on a 16-fight winning streak — tied for the longest in UFC history. Machado Garry (17-1-0) comes in as the underdog, but his size may prove advantageous in the Octagon. The Irishman is listed at 6-foot-3 while Makhachev comes in at 5-11.

Meanwhile, Dern (16-5) will also put her title on the line for the first time. She won the belt last October after defeating Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. Her opponent, Robertson (17-8), has won five straight fights entering Saturday.

Is anyone from the area fighting?

Philadelphia’s own Jeremiah Wells will fight Kyrgyzstan’s Myktybek Orolbai in an early preliminary welterweight fight.

Wells, 39, is a West Philly native who attended Overbrook and boasts a 13-4-1 record. Before joining the UFC, Wells actually worked at the Xfinity Mobile Arena (then the Wells Fargo Center), setting up concerts and other events. Now, he is looking to get his first UFC win in the arena. He currently trains in the Poconos.

The 28-year-old Orolbai (16-2-1) will be a formidable opponent. The Kyrgyzstani has won his last three fights. Most recently, he defeated Chris Curtis via unanimous decision in March.

When is the weigh-in?

On Friday, the fighters will participate in a ceremonial weigh-in at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The event, which is open to the public, will start with a news conference at 5 p.m.

The weigh-in will also be streamed for free on UFC.com and UFC’s socials accounts.

When was the last time the UFC came to Philadelphia?

In 2011, UFC drew a meager Philadelphia crowd — filling up just over half of the then-named Wells Fargo Center.

That night, Taylor Swift sold out Lincoln Financial Field across the street. Expect a bigger crowd this weekend. The UFC has exploded in popularity in recent years and UFC president Dana White won’t be competing with Swift this time.

The 11-fight card in 2011 featured former light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz. Evans knocked out Ortiz with a knee to Ortiz’s upper abdomen in the fight’s second round.

“It was a great night, I got mad respect for Tito for taking this fight,” Evans told the Inquirer at the time.

UFC’s most recent visit came in 2019 for a Fight Night card at the then-Wells Fargo Center, featuring a main event between Justin Gaethje and Edson Barboza.

Are there any notable Philadelphians who fought in the UFC before?

There have been quite a few. Here’s some notable names:

Eddie Alvarez: Alvarez (30-8) grew up in Kensington. Alvarez, nicknamed the “The Underground King,” is widely considered to be one of the best lightweight fighters ever. He has won two Bellator lightweight championships and one UFC championship. His last official fight came in 2021, a loss to South Korea’s Rae Yoon Ok.

Kyle Daukaus: Daukaus (17-5) grew up in Northeast Philadelphia. He was most recently featured on the White House fight card, where he was knocked out by Bo Nickal, a former Penn State wrestler. Before joining the UFC, Daukaus previously worked as a police officer in North Philadelphia’s 25th District.

Andre Petroski: Petroski (13-7) grew up in Chester and attended Springfield High School. When he’s not in the Octagon, Petroski moonlights as one of the Flyers’ fighting coaches. He has lost his last three fights.

Pat Sabatini: Sabatini (22-5) most recently saw action at May’s UFC 328, winning his fourth consecutive fight. He began training in Northeast Philly at 5 years old.

Sean Brady: Brady (19-2), who defeated Joaquin Buckley via unanimous decision at May’s UFC 328, grew up in Northeast Philadelphia. He is a top-ranked welterweight fighter.

“I think [Philadelphia fighters are] just really gritty, tough, hard workers,” Brady told the Inquirer in 2025. “And anyone who’s ever seen us train at our gym, they just see how hard we train and we wear that as a badge of honor”

How do I get tickets?

Tickets are still available to purchase from Ticketmaster and other verified secondary markets.

How can I watch at home?

The UFC has an exclusive deal with Paramount+, meaning that any viewers must subscribe to the streaming platform to watch Saturday’s fights. Plans start at $8.99 per month.

What else is going on?

UFC is hosting a fan experience event outside of Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday. The event will run from 2 to 6 p.m.

Attendees can take a photograph with the UFC Championship belt, buy merchandise, and take a swing at the “UFC Striking Challenge.” There will also be opportunities to meet select UFC athletes from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 4 to 5:30 p.m.

What is the full schedule?

Early Prelims, 4:30 p.m. start

• Jeremiah Wells vs. Myktybek Orolbai, men’s welterweight
• Neil Magny vs. Ramiz Brahimaj, men’s welterweight
• Rafael Tobias vs. Lucas Fernando, men’s light heavyweights

Prelims, 6 p.m. start

• Tresean Gore vs. Vicente Luque, men’s middleweights
• Eric McConico vs. Donte Johnson, men’s iddleweights
• Jalin Turner vs. Kauê Fernandes, men’s lightweights
• Chidi Njokuani vs. Joel Álvarez, men’s welterweights

Main Card, 8 p.m. start

• Esteban Ribovics vs. Edson Barboza, men’s lightweights
• Dustin Stoltzfus vs. Mansur Abdul-Malik, men’s middleweights
• Jose Ochoa vs. Charles Johnson, men’s flyweights
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Gillian Robertson, women’s strawweight
• Islam Makhachev vs. Ian Machado Garry, men’s welterweight

Two years after a Learn to Row program at Boathouse Row, Maurice Scott was reintroduced to the sport when his father took him to his first race. As a spectator, Scott carefully observed each competitor as they walked toward the water.

And as they competed, it wasn’t the technique or the speed of the athletes that stood out to him most. Instead, Scott, who was 14 at the time, was focused on the fact that nobody looked like him and nobody shared his background as a Black kid from Northwest Philadelphia. When he voiced his concerns to his father, Maurice Scott Sr., he responded, “You know, that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it.”

Those words have lived with the younger Scott for the past 18 years.

Since then, he’s become a Philadelphia city champion and a four-time national champion, has notched multiple Head of the Charles wins, made history as the first Black governor of the Potomac Boat Club, and was honored in the “Philadelphia Rowing: Breaking Barriers” display at the Independence Seaport Museum.

Now Scott, 32, is making a push to compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. And as he embarks on his journey to chase his Olympic dream, he’s inspiring other inner-city kids who have a desire to compete in a sport lacking representation.

“It was just silencing the noise on both ends,” Scott said. “And continuing to believe in what I knew and believing that I belong there. That this is where I needed to be. And so just really staying focused on that and keeping the main thing the main thing; Jalen Hurts always said that. That’s legit. And knowing that later down the road, my story will be a story for others to see and to follow and know that it’s no longer a joke. We’re actually legit in the sport, too.”

‘I was the black sheep’

Scott acknowledged the challenges when you don’t see yourself represented.

“It’s just like, ‘Why is that? Is it because the sport wasn’t made for me?’” Scott said. “And when I did step into the realm, people were looking at me sideways because I’m an anomaly. People [didn’t] see athletes of color within the sport of rowing back then. It wasn’t a thing.”

Even his peers questioned why he wasn’t playing basketball or football.

“It became a joke, honestly,” Scott said. “Like, people would laugh at me actually doing this sport. When people like a sport that isn’t a part of the ‘culture,’ people kind of look at them like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ I can guarantee you folks laughed at Venus and Serena. I can guarantee you folks laughed at Tiger Woods.

“I was like the black sheep. I didn’t fit the mold. So for me personally, being around the water and doing something around the water gave me strength and provided me something that I could be proud of because I knew that I could be good at it.”

‘A safe haven’

At just 7 years old, Scott witnessed his first drive-by shooting. He’s been robbed, had people close to him killed by gun violence, and stepped over bullet casings as he walked through neighborhoods.

He felt safe in only two places: in church and on the water.

”Being in church, it was like a safe haven, a safe place that I can be myself, and I’ve also created a community there,” Scott said. “I was surrounded by a lot of wrongdoing, but it allowed me to really have that confidence to make sure that I did the right thing as I carried myself through my younger childhood years.

“And rowing was one of those outlets where I can really just get away from all of that. I was scared to go off to school or walk to the bus. I mean, it was that bad. Finding that outlet is important because it just takes your mental state out of the negativity and the picture that’s being painted of the city that you constantly see on a daily basis.”

As Scott struggled to find his place among his community, he always felt a connection to the water.

“The water has always been part of me,” Scott said. “Anytime I’m around it, I just feel strength and happiness. So that’s what kind of drew me to the sport itself.”

Scott grew up sailing, swimming, kayaking, and rafting. So in fifth grade when he heard about the Learn to Row program at Bachelors Barge Club on Boathouse Row, he thought he would give it a shot. But after the two-week program ended, he didn’t know where to go next with the sport.

“[My father] knew that I just loved the water and he knew how much fun I had when I initially did it,” Scott said. “But it was pretty closed off back then. Boathouse Row in general was very pretentious; there weren’t really wide-open doors. But I think he may have felt something was coming later down the line, and he just wanted to make sure that I didn’t forget it.”

‘Building that one heartbeat’

Philadelphia City Rowing was founded during Scott’s junior year of high school. The nonprofit was designed to provide access to the sport for inner-city youth. He was one of the organization’s first athletes, and it inspired his commitment to diversity in rowing.

“We try to eliminate a lot of the barriers and obstacles that a lot of kids may face in trying a new sport,” said George Rowley, the director of programs and community inclusion at PCR. “I think it’s important to really highlight [alumni] pathways to provide some inspiration for the kids that are just starting out.”

PCR quickly became part of Scott’s family.

“It was all about rowing together and having that unit and having that rhythm and building that one heartbeat within the boat,” Scott said. “And that was something that I really loved and enjoyed because there was no other sport that is really like that, at least that I’ve done. And trauma bonding. Rowing is a painful sport. Rowing started off as a form of torture, and we’re doing it for fun.

”We didn’t look like any other boat on the water. We literally had kids from all over the city. And it was really cool because I got to meet people that weren’t just from my neighborhood, but were from all over and all walks of life.”

After his first year with PCR, Scott was recruited to the Naval Academy. But a few weeks before graduating from the Naval Academy Preparatory School, he was told he had a sleep disorder. They said he could graduate but wouldn’t be able to move on. So he decided to accept a scholarship from Arcadia and graduated from there in 2017.

While there, he studied abroad in Australia (2015-16) and competed with the University of South Wales.

Olympic aspirations

As people left the nightclubs at 4 a.m. in Australia, Scott would be heading to the gym. That discipline, which sustained him throughout college, is powering his dream of competing at the LA Olympics in 2028.

Scott moved to Long Beach, Calif., in March 2024 to train at Belmont Shore for beach sprints, a fast, head-to-head race that combines sand runs with a 250-meter slalom boat course. The race will make its Olympic debut in 2028.

“There’s no better way than training on the actual course and really understanding what goes into beach sprints,” Scott said. “One day, I’ll be doing a total of 16 to 30,000 meters depending on what’s going on. One day I could be doing an 8×500, which is full sprints, just back-to-back sprints.”

Growing the sport

Through his talent and telling his story on social media, Scott received a number of sponsorships and partnerships. Now, he’s trying to help other athletes do the same through his name, image, and likeness agency, Rowfluencers.

And he is bringing even more eyes to the sport with his four-part docuseries, FORGED: The Kid from Philly, on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“Representation is so important,” Scott said. “So, I’m hoping they see this and are like, ‘Hey, it doesn’t have to be wrong. But this challenges me to really find what I like to do and not care about what other people think about because I’m going to do this and be a trailblazer for it and bring in others with me to allow them to not only just live, but thrive within whatever space that may be.’”

A “loading” sign sat in the window of a three-story apartment complex across from Hancock Playground in Olde Kensington. Nearly an hour later, the sign was taken down, the window was opened, and the sounds of Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” rang throughout the park.

Suddenly, 29-year-old Brian Ulrich’s voice took over the speakers as his band, Mid Sentence, prepared for its next show.

“How are we doing out there guys? Are we having a good night tonight? Let’s have some fun out there.”

This isn’t a typical gig for the band that consists of Ulrich; Jeff Ross, 32; Shawn Cox, 29; and Ian Stutzman, 25. They usually perform at spots like Ruba Club, Kung Fu Necktie, MilkBoy, Dawson Street Pub, and The Grape.

But ever since a series of clips showing the band commentating on local Heyday Athletic recreational adult kickball games went viral on social media, Ulrich’s apartment window has become a new stage for the band.

“We’re a Philly indie band, and I think the videos really draw our community together,” said Cox, the band’s lead guitarist. “And that’s a big part of the content as well. Aside from us wanting to tie our music into it, we definitely want to tie Philly into it as a whole.”

‘You have to be innovative’

Ulrich, the lead vocals and rhythm guitar of Mid Sentence, has lived across the street from the kickball field at Hancock Playground for over a year. And every night he could hear the games being played from his window.

So, one day, he decided to turn his speakers toward the field and commentate as Ross, the band’s bass player, recorded the action. And he immediately became a favorite among players.

As he played the end theme of SpongeBob SquarePants, one player began to dance. Meanwhile another player yelled out, “Where have you been all season?”

”It was really to promote the band’s music,” Ulrich said. “So we started posting it on our band’s page. And the idea was to be like making something funny that also included the music in it. So we try our hardest to make sure you’ve heard one of our songs every time we make one of the videos.”

The band didn’t post the first video until September, six months after they recorded the footage.

Since then, they’ve turned it into a series titled “How to annoy your local rec kickball league.” So far, there have been four parts, and throughout each clip, the band has kept the players entertained — playing classic 2000s hits along with their own music, playing iconic theme songs from Wii Sports, and heckling some players in the process.

“No, [we didn’t expect it to blow up],” Ulrich said. “It was supposed to be a joke. God’s honest truth. It was literally just throwing a bone and seeing if it hit. And the first one actually didn’t hit; the second one didn’t hit. They were doing well on TikTok but not Instagram. And then we hit the third video, and that’s the one that actually went viral and is why we’re speaking to you guys right now.”

The band has been together since 2023, starting as a cover band before making their own music. They met through Vampr, a Tinder-like networking app designed for musicians to connect. After three years together, they aim to keep growing.

But as the music industry continues to change, so does the way artists have to promote themselves.

“Nowadays, you have to be innovative,” Cox said. “Like, you have to be a content creator as well as being a great musician. It’s not mutually exclusive.”

‘It’s gotten more eyes on us’

Six months ago, 32-year-old Walter Bayer and his team, Poultry in Motion, waited patiently at Hancock Playground for their opponents to arrive. Unfortunately, they never did. So they decided to play among themselves with a special rule: Each player had to have a drink in their hand while playing.

Bayer, who has been part of Heyday for five years, was ready for a memorable night. But what he didn’t know was it was about to get even more special.

This was the first day Ulrich decided to commentate on the game. And remember that SpongeBob SquarePants dancer? That was Bayer.

“That was hilarious,” Bayer said. “They just out of nowhere started playing some music and doing the color commentary one night. And then six months later, I saw someone sent me the video of it and I was like, ‘Oh wait, that’s me dancing. That’s my team. Ok, cool.’ And now it’s blowing up. … But, yeah, they provide a little added entertainment. Especially if we’re losing, then it’s fun to have them kind of distracting us. So, big fans.”

Sarah Rabo has become a fan of Ulrich’s work. The 42-year-old Fishtown native, who has been part of the league for 16 years, believes you just need to be on the right side of the commentary when it comes to game time.

“It’s a little distracting but it’s also really funny,” said Rabo, who’s the captain of Balls World Order (which might get renamed to Le’Ball James next year). “But it sucks, especially when you’re playing badly. He’s like, ‘Oh, big miss in right field.’ It’s kind of embarrassing, but it’s fun. I think it does razz people a little bit. But if you’re doing good, then it makes you feel famous.”

Part 3 of the series has over 2 million views and 300,000 likes. Since the clips have taken off on social media, Heyday, the adult sports rec league, has gained more attention, too.

“It’s gotten more eyes on us, and it’s gotten more eyes on the band,” said Brian Wagner, the chief administrative officer of Heyday. “So, you know, local Philly band, we want to help them. We’re a local Philly company, and whatever helps them helps us, too. So it’s definitely gotten more eyes on us and maybe has gotten more people playing. That’s all positive. So we want to lean into that as much as we can and it’s been a great relationship with them so far.”

However, not everyone is a fan of the antics.

”About like three weeks ago, my neighbor came down, it was like 10 p.m., and I was literally on the guitar playing, and he goes, ‘Hey, could you close your window?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, sorry. Is it too loud?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, it’s really [expletive] loud,’” Ulrich said. “And then my face got really red, I closed the window, and that was the end of that night.”

Finding rhythm: content creation and making music

When it comes to their new social media fame, the band is still trying to find the balance between their kickball content and their music.

“Ultimately, we don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, these are the kickball guys,” said Stutzman, the band’s drummer. “Like, no. That’s Mid Sentence. So that’s what we’re aiming for. If this is what we have to do to get the attention drawn on us at first, then we’re happy to do what we can to keep the attention on us. But we’re also going to respect our band while doing it.”

The band recently released their debut album, Please Be There When I Come Home in July. It features songs written by Stutzman and Ulrich before the band was fully established.

“You listen to the album start to finish, and you kind of find yourself in a little bit of an emotional roller-coaster in a good way,” Stutzman said. “It’s got a lot of different tastes to it, and I think there’s a song for everybody.”

And with all the new attention on them, they’re headed back to the studio next month to record their next EP. But before that, they will be competing in the Local Noise battle of the lands on Thursday at Brooklyn Bowl and will play Aug. 20 at the Ruba Club.

However, Heyday and the band are open to working together in the future.

“We do social events; we do other types of events, too,” Wagner said. “So there’s probably some more things we can do with them. They’ve given us some creative ideas that I’m not going to ruin for anyone, but we’re all for it. It supports us, supports them. And anything fun and interesting we can do together, we will.”