June has arrived, MMA fans! Here are some of the stories and fights in store for the month ahead!
Each of the cards below are subject to change.
June 4, 2022: UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Rozenstruik (UFC Vegas 56)
The main event between Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik could provide the latest example of how the UFC’s current heavyweight division may arguably be better and deeper than it has ever been.
The official poster cites a combined 33 knockouts between the two of them. You can be sure MMA News will bring you the highlights and reactions if there is a 34th by the end of Saturday.
The co-main event will feature the #72-ranked fighter on the MMA News Top 100 Fighters of 2021 list, Movsar Evloev, facing his biggest challenge in the UFC to date and one of the more exciting fighters in the division, Dan Ige.
This event will feature another fighter who cracked our year-end list and someone who is arguably the top prospect in the women’s flyweight division if not the entire UFC female roster: Erin Blanchfield.
At only 23 years old, Blanchfield has already shown great promise, and her one-sided victory over another rising prospect, Miranda Maverick, put the MMA world on notice that this “Cold-Blooded” American is someone who should be watched closely.
Here is the full lineup for this weekend’s UFC Vegas 56 card.
Heavyweight Main Event Bout: Alexander Volkov vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Featherweight bout: Dan Ige vs. Movsar Evloev
Women’s Flyweight bout: Poliana Botelho vs. Karine Silva
Flyweight bout: Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Jeff Molina
Flyweight bout: Zarrukh Adashev vs. Ode’ Osbourne
Welterweight bout: Andreas Michailidis vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
Women’s Flyweight bout: Erin Blanchfield vs. JJ Aldrich
Featherweight bout: Michael Trizano vs. Lucas Almeida
Featherweight bout: Damon Jackson vs. Daniel Argueta.
Lightweight bout: Alex da Silva Coelho vs. Joe Solecki
Light Heavyweight bout: Alonzo Menifield vs. Askar Mozharov
Bantamweight bout: Tony Gravely vs. Johnny Munoz Jr.
Strawweight Bout: Felice Herrig vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Welterweight bout: Benoît Saint-Denis vs. Niklas Stolze
June 11, 2022: UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Procházka
June’s UFC pay-per-view will be headlined by Glover Teixeira defending his light heavyweight championship against Ji?í Procházka.
At 42 years old, a lead story heading into this PPV will inevitably be how much longer fans will be seeing Teixeira compete, even though there is currently no reason to believe that this could be his last fight, win or lose. Nevertheless, at UFC 275, fans will get their first evidence of the year when formulating their own opinions of how much longer the Brazilian can compete with the best.
In the case of his opponent, Ji?í Procházka, this modern-day samurai has already become one of the more enigmatic fighters on the UFC roster. If Procházka can win the UFC championship with his volcano of a fighting style, we could very well have a new star on our hands.
In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko will have an opportunity to continue nourishing the argument for herself as being the most dominant champion in the UFC, if not all of MMA. Or will Taila Santos do the unthinkable and pull off another massive upset in the women’s divisions less than one year after Julianna Peña stunned Amanda Nunes?
And finally, title or no title, the rematch between Joanna J?drzejczyk and Zhang Weili could very well be considered the people’s main event of this card after they turned in one of the greatest fights in MMA history two years ago. Thus, it easily one of this month’s biggest stories, especially when considering the strong possibility that the fight could serve as a #1-contender’s bout to determine the first title defense of Carla Esparza’s second reign.
You can view the current card for UFC 275 below!
Light Heavyweight Championship Main Event: Glover Teixeira (c) vs. Ji?í Procházka
Women’s Flyweight Championship Bout: Valentina Shevchenko (c)vs. Taila Santos Women’s Strawweight: Zhang Weili vs. Joanna J?drzejczyk
Flyweight: Rogério Bontorin vs. Manel Kape
Welterweight: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Ramazan Emeev
Featherweight Seung Woo Choi vs. Joshua Culibao
Welterweight Jake Matthews vs. André Fialho
Middleweight Jacob Malkoun vs. Brendan Allen
Lightweight: Steve Garcia vs. Hayisaer Maheshate
Bantamweight: Kang Kyung-ho vs. Danaa Batgerel
Women’s Strawweight: Liang Na vs. Silvana Gómez Juárez
Women’s Bantamweight: Ramona Pascual vs. Joselyne Edwards
June 17, 2022: PFL 4: Collard vs. Martinez
You’ll want to keep following along with every PFL card of the year, including the first of June, to stay up to date on the latest standings ahead of the championships at year’s end. Below is the full card for PFL 4.
MAIN CARD
Clay Collard vs. Alexander Martinez
Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Bruce Souto
Raush Manfio vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Jeremy Stephens vs. Myles Price
UNDERCARD
Omari Akhmedov vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis
Natan Schulte vs. Marcin Held
Emiliano Sordi vs. Delan Monte
Rob Wilkinson vs. Viktor Pesta
Marthin Hamlet vs. Josh Silveira
June 18, 2022: UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Emmett (UFC Austin)
Josh Emmett hasn’t lost since 2018, and two of his last three fights have been performance bonuses. Meanwhile, 3 of Kattar’s last 5 fights have been Fight of the Nights. All things considered, this could go down as the fight of the month if it meets expectations and perhaps even a FOTY contender if it exceeds them.
Arguably the biggest story of this card, however, is the fact that it could be the final fight for one or both UFC legends Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon. Cerrone has let it be known that he wants one more fight after this to make it 50 under Zuffa before he rides off into the sunset.
He is currently at 48. So the UFC may accommodate Cerrone, who has been such a company man for so long. However, White has strongly hinted that if Cerrone loses again that would mark the end of his UFC career.
Speaking of Cerrone, many fans have compared Kevin Holland to him due to their hyperactive fight schedules and fan-favorite statuses. Holland is now 1-0 since working overtime on his wrestling, so a story to watch will be if he can make it 2-0 and potential begin being a fan favorite who doesn’t just fight a lot but ultimately fight for gold.
You can view the current lineup for the June 18 UFC Austin event below.
Featherweight Main Event: Calvin Kattar vs. Josh Emmett
Lightweight: Donald Cerrone vs. Joe Lauzon
Welterweight: Kevin Holland vs. Tim Means
Middleweight: Joaquin Buckley vs. Albert Duraev
Lightweight: Damir Ismagulov vs. Guram Kutateladze
Middleweight: Julian Marquez vs. Gregory Rodrigues
Middleweight: Roman Dolidze vs. Kyle Daukaus
Middleweight: Phil Hawes vs. Deron Winn
Women’s Flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Natália Silva
Welterweight: Court McGee vs. Jeremiah Wells
Women’s Strawweight: Maria Oliveira vs. Gloria de Paula
Bantamweight: Eddie Wineland vs. Cody Stamann
June 24, 2022: PFL 5
The PFL’s 2022 season rolls on June 24. Be sure to stay tuned right here on MMA News to learn more about this card that is scheduled to take place in only a few weeks!
June 24, 2022: Bellator 282: Mousasi vs. Eblen
In the Bellator 282 main event, Johnn Eblen puts his undefeated record on the line against a man many believe to be the best middleweight not in the UFC, the champ, Gegard Mousasi. Also, the bantamweight grand prix will continue with not one but two quarterfinal bouts. This event will close out Friday’s big doubleheader of MMA action!
You can peep the full lineup below!
Middleweight Championship Bout: Gegard Mousasi (c) vs. Johnny Eblen
Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal: Leandro Higo vs. Danny Sabatello
Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal: Magomed Magomedov vs. Enrique Barzola
Welterweight: Brennan Ward vs. Kassius Kayne
Lightweight: Brent Primus vs. Alexander Shabliy
Women’s Featherweight: Cat Zingano vs.Pam Sorenson
Middleweight: Anatoly Tokov vs. Muhammad Abdullah
Welterweight: Sabah Homasi vs. Maycon Mendonça
Women’s Flyweight: Alejandra Lara vs. Ilara Joanne
Featherweight: Cody Law vs. James Gonzalez
Lightweight: Dan Moret vs. Killys Mota
Featherweight: Lucas Brennan vs. Johnny Soto
Middleweight: Aaron Jeffery vs. Fabio Aguiar
Lightweight: Bryce Logan vs. Mandel Nallo
June 25, 2022: UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot (UFC Vegas 57)
The June 24/25 big MMA tripleheader will conclude with UFC Vegas 57, a card with huge prospects and potential title challengers/champions galore, including both main eventers as well as Shavkat Rakhmonov and Umar Nurmagomedov.
None of the prospects will have a “squash” match of any degree. In Rakhmonov’s case, he will face his first ranked opposition in proven, high-level veteran Neil Magny And the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov will take on Nate Maness, who is 14-1 as a professional and 2-0 in the UFC, both Performance of the Night-winning finishes.
You can check out the full prospect-laden card below.
Lightweight Main Event: Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mateusz Gamrot
Welterweight bout: Neil Magny vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
Bantamweight bout: Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Nate Maness
Women’s Strawweight: Jinh Yu Frey vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
Flyweight bout: Tim Elliott vs. Amir Albazi
Heavyweight bout: Josh Parisian vs. Alan Baudot
Middleweight bout: Rodolfo Vieira vs. Chris Curtis
Flyweight bout: Tyson Nam vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
Bantamweight bout: Raulian Paiva vs. Sergey Morozov
Light Heavyweight bout: Carlos Ulberg vs. Tafon Nchukwi
Keep it locked right here on MMANews.com for all the stories and highlights before and after these big events coming your way in the month of June!
Continue Reading MMA News June Overview: Cards, Stories, & Fights To Watch at MMA News.