Reminder: 'UFC Road to the Octagon: Johnson vs. Bader' debuts today on FOX

The quarterly “UFC Road to the Octagon” preview show returns today to spotlight the upcoming UFC on FOX 18 light heavyweight contenders fight between recent title challenger Anthony Johnson and “TUF 8” winner Ryan Bader.

The event takes place a week from today at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The main card airs on FOX following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

“UFC Road to the Octagon” debuts today at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT), though you should check your local listings since the times may vary in certain locations.

Replays air throughout the week on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2.

The show previews the Johnson (20-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) vs. Bader (20-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) headliner. Johnson is ranked No. 3 in the MMAjunkie/USA TODAY Sports MMA light-heavyweight rankings; Bader is No. 4. A title shot could be on the line for the winner.

In the co-headliner, veteran heavyweights tangle when No. 6-ranked Ben Rothwell (35-9 MMA, 5-3 UFC) takes on No. 9 Josh Barnett (34-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC). Also on the main card, Jimmie Rivera (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who’s an honorable mention in the bantamweight rankings, looks for his 18th straight win when he meets Iuri Alcantara (33-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who’s 4-1 over his past five fights. Kicking off the network-televised portion of the event is undefeated and highly promoted Sage Northcutt (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who just got a new opponent in Bryan Barberena (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC). The two meet at welterweight instead of their usual lightweight homes.

“Road to the Octagon” traditionally goes behind the scenes with the fighters at home and in the gym ahead of their network-televised fights.

The complete UFC on FOX 18 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX, 8 p.m. ET)

• Anthony Johnson vs. Ryan Bader
• Josh Barnett vs. Ben Rothwell
• Iuri Alcantara vs. Jimmie Rivera
• Bryan Barberena vs. Sage Northcutt

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 5 p.m. ET)

• Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine
• Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Diego Ferreira
• Kevin Casey vs. Rafael Natal
• Dustin Ortiz vs. Wilson Reis
• George Sullivan vs. Alexander Yakovlev
• Alex Caceres vs. Masio Fullen

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 3:30 p.m. ET)

• Damon Jackson vs. Levan Makashvili
• Tony Martin vs. Felipe Olivieri
• Randy Brown vs. Matt Dwyer

For more on UFC on FOX 18, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.