LAS VEGAS – As the UFC prepares to host a rare Sunday event, a quick glance at the schedule would seem to suggest a major mistake. Going against the NFL, and in the same market, no less?

But UFC brass contends quite the opposite is true.

“We looked at the calendar, and we look at these dates like real estate,” UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta told MMAjunkie. “This is beachfront real estate, this date.”

This Sunday, fast-rising featherweight star Conor McGregor (16-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and Dennis Siver (22-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) square off in the headlining bout of “UFC Fight Night 59: McGregor vs. Siver,” which takes place at Boston’s TD Garden. Just 30 miles to the south, Gillette Stadium plays host to the NFL’s AFC championship game, which features the hometown New England Patriots facing the Indianapolis Colts.

That football game airs on CBS at 6:40 p.m. ET and will likely enjoy 50 million-plus viewers. Meanwhile, after two bouts that stream on UFC Fight Pass, UFC Fight Night 59 hits the FOX Sports 1 airwaves at 7 p.m. ET. It seems a bit of ratings suicide, but Fertitta points to this past weekend’s playoffs, as well as Sunday’s NFC championship game – which airs on FOX at 3:05 p.m. ET – as reasons why the UFC event will ultimately be a success.

“You saw massive promos in the Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys game this weekend, where there were 50 million people watching that game,” Fertitta said. “You’re going to see a ton of promos in the NFC championship game, and we’ll be promoting directly to watch the fight that night.

“People ask, ‘Why would you put Conor McGregor on FOX Sports 1 on a Sunday?’ Well, this is our beachfront property right here. This is our big opportunity to promote using the FOX broadcast to push people and create awareness on FOX Sports 1.”

UFC Fight Night 59’s main card goes live on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET, so the Patriots-Colts game should be wrapping up in the opening minutes of the featured broadcast. At worst, the sporting airwaves should at least be clear by the time McGregor and Siver step into the cage for the night’s main feature.

And, as UFC President Dana White points out, even with the head-to-head competition in the Boston area, the UFC is expecting a complete sellout at TD Garden, something that didn’t happen on the company’s previous two visits to the building, including UFC 118, which featured Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn II and Randy Couture vs. James Toney.

“We’re selling out the arena,” White said.

When the dust settles on Sunday night, or at least when the ratings reports come in a few days later, Fertitta, White and the rest of the UFC will find out if their plan paid dividends.

But right now, Fertitta said there’s no question it was the right play.

“Just look at all the promotion that FOX is putting into this thing,” he said. “They’re going to be cutting back, live during the NFC championship game, to Boston with Charissa Thompson saying, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on in the arena. This is when the prelims start.’

“Historically, 50 million people watch the NFC championship game. You will see a significant amount of promotion.”

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