Fans invited to UFC Fight Night 59 workouts, media day, weigh-ins in Boston

The UFC returns to Boston next week for a highly anticipated card featuring Ireland’s biggest star, and fans are invited to some of the usual pre-fight activities.

UFC Fight Night 59 takes place Sunday, Jan. 18, and airs on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass from TD Garden in Boston. The main event is between brash Irishman Conor McGregor and Dennis Siver, and a win for McGregor is expected to get him a featherweight title shot against longtime champion Jose Aldo.

In addition, there is a new co-main event that is drawing plenty of attention. Former lightweight champion Benson Henderson was expected to fact framer Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez. But an Alvarez injury forced him out, leading Donald Cerrone to step in for what will be his second fight in 15 days. The bout will be a trilogy fight – Henderson beat Cerrone twice while the two were in the WEC.

On Thursday, fans can attend the open workouts with McGregor, Siver, Henderson and Cerrone. The event is free and open to the public and takes place at the UFC Gym at 76 Lincoln St. in Boston.

Doors open to the public at 12:30 p.m. ET, and the fighters will work out and meet the media in 30-minute blocks starting at 1 p.m. with Siver and continuing with Henderson, Cerrone and McGregor.

On Friday, fans can attend the event’s “Ultimate Media Day,” which takes place at Ned Devine’s Irish Pub/Parris Hall in the Quincy Market Building at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston. Doors open to the public at 12:30 p.m. ET, and the fighters will meet the media at 1 p.m. ET. At 2 p.m. ET, UFC President Dana White will square the fighters off for the media.

Fighters scheduled to attend include McGregor, Siver, Henderson and Cerrone, plus fellow main-card fighters Uriah Hall, Louis Taylor, Norman Parke and Gleison Tibau. In addition, preliminary card fighters Cathal Pendred and Patrick Holohan, from Ireland and fighting in America’s most famous Irish city, will attend, as will Boston native John Howard.

Friday’s weigh-ins will take place in Boston at 4 p.m. ET, though a location is still to be determined by the UFC. Ahead of the weigh-ins, Aldo will host a Q&A session for all fans at 2 p.m. ET. Doors open to the public at 1:30 p.m. ET. Stay tuned to MMAjunkie for further details on the weigh-ins’ location when information becomes available.

The full UFC Fight Night 59 card includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)

• Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver
• Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson
• Uriah Hall vs. Louis Taylor
• Norman Parke vs. Gleison Tibau

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET)

• Cathal Pendred vs. Sean Spencer
• John Howard vs. Lorenz Larkin
• Zhang Lipeng vs. Chris Wade
• Patrick Holohan vs. Shane Howell
• Johnny Case vs. Frankie Perez
• Charles Rosa vs. Sean Soriano

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6 p.m. ET)

• Sean O’Connell vs. Matt Van Buren
• Tateki Matsuda vs. Joby Sanchez

For more on UFC Fight Night 59, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.