'Countdown to UFC 221: Rockhold vs. Romero' debuts Sunday on FS1

The UFC’s traditional pre-event show returns Sunday with the debut of “Countdown to UFC 221: Rockhold vs. Romero” on FS1.

The one-hour special previews the card’s interim middleweight title fight between former champion Luke Rockhold (16-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Yoel Romero (12-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC).

Champ Robert Whittaker, who was elevated from interim titleholder after Georges St-Pierre vacated the belt in December, was set to defend against Rockhold until he was ruled medically unfit. Romero lost an interim title fight against Whittaker in 2017 and now has another shot against the former champ in Rockhold.

The show also dives into the co-main event heavyweight fight Curtis Blaydes (9-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Mark Hunt (13-11-1 MMA, 8-5-1 UFC).

“Countdown” airs at 11 p.m. ET (8 p.m. PT) on FS1, and replays air throughout next week.

UFC 221 takes place Sunday, Feb. 11 (but airs live in North America on Saturday, Feb. 10, due to the time difference) at Perth Arena in Perth, Western Australia. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The UFC 221 card includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero – for interim middleweight title
• Curtis Blaydes vs. Mark Hunt
• Cyril Asker vs. Tai Tuivasa
• Li Jingliang vs. Jake Matthews
• Tyson Pedro vs. Saparbek Safarov

PRELIMINARY CARD (FS1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Damien Brown vs. “Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim
• Israel Adesanya vs. Rob Wilkinson
• Jeremy Kennedy vs. Alex Volkanovski
• Jussier Formiga vs. Ben Nguyen

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:45 p.m. ET)

• Mizuto Hirota vs. Ross Pearson
• Teruto Ishihara vs. Jose Quinonez
• Daichi Abe vs. Luke Jumeau

For more on UFC 221, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.