Check out all the fights announced over the past week in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
UFC 275 on Saturday had everything. A ‘Fight of the Year’ contender between Glover Teixeira and Ji?í Procházka ended in the most unimaginable way. Taila Santos nearly flipped the women’s flyweight division on its head but still fell to reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko. Zhang Weili stunned the crowd with a spinning backfist knockout of Joanna J?drzejczyk, who retired from the sport afterward. Though she may not fight anymore, J?drzejczyk hinted at becoming a manager in the near future. So, this is less of a goodbye and more of a see you later. Best of luck to Joanna on her next chapter in life! The knockouts from Jake Matthews, Jack Della Maddalena, Maheshate and Silvana Gómez Juárez were incredible. Folks, this is definitely in the running for ‘Event of the Year.’ Now that it is over let’s take a look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.
The UFC either announced or finalized nine fights this week, and a long-awaited rematch at welterweight is now set.
Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards 2 is finally happening. During the broadcast of UFC 275, the rematch was confirmed for UFC 278, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for August 20 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Usman and Edwards met seven years ago at UFC on FOX 17, where the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ won a unanimous decision over ‘Rocky’.
After his first fight against Edwards, Usman rattled off seven consecutive wins to earn a championship opportunity against ex-champion Tyron Woodley. The 35-year-old dominated ’The Chosen One’ and went on to defend his title five times since then. Most recently, Usman scored a unanimous decision over Colby Covington in a rematch at UFC 268 this past November. His return to the Octagon was delayed after undergoing surgery on the injured right hand he suffered before the Covington fight, but he now has his next assignment.
Edwards has not lost since Usman, going 9-0-1 in ten appearances. The No. 2 ranked contender extended his win streak with a unanimous decision over Nate Diaz at UFC 263 last June.
UFC Fight Night — July 9
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Karl Roberson — light heavyweight
UFC 277 — July 30
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Alex Perez — flyweight
UFC Fight Night — August 13
Dominick Cruz vs. Marlon Vera — bantamweight
Malcolm Gordon vs. Allan Nascimento — flyweight
UFC 278 — August 20
Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards — welterweight
UFC Fight Night — September 17
Trevin Giles vs. Louis Cosce — welterweight*
Nikolas Motta vs. Cameron VanCamp — lightweight*
Trey Ogden vs. Daniel Zellhuber — lightweight*
* These fights were already confirmed, but have shifted to a TBA UFC Fight Night, per Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie.
UFC Fight Night — October 1
Tabatha Ricci vs. Cheyanne Vlismas — women’s strawweight
Announced Invicta FC fights:
Invicta FC 48 — July 20
Taneisha Tennant vs. Olga Rubin — women’s bantamweight
Katharina Lehner vs. Talita Bernardo — women’s bantamweight
Mallory Martin vs. Kyra Batara — women’s strawweight
Liana Pirosin vs. Kristina Williams — women’s flyweight
Amber Leibrock vs. Morgan Frier — women’s featherweight
Auttumn Norton vs. Maria Djukic — women’s bantamweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 141 — July 22
Naglis Kanišauskas vs. Will Currie — middleweight
Jesse Urholin vs. Madars Fleminas — welterweight
Tobias Harila vs. James Hendin — featherweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 71 — June 18
Marcin Ró?alski vs. Errol Zimmerman — heavyweight
Roman Szyma?ski vs. Valeriu Mircea — lightweight
Announced Professional Fighters League (PFL) fights:
PFL 4 (2022 Regular Season) — June 17
Bruno Miranda vs. Nate Jennerman — lightweight