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 Vegas 59 went under the radar, but it turned out to be one of the best events of the year, considering every fight ended in a finish. Jamahal Hill sent a message to the rest of the light heavyweight division with a fourth-round TKO of Thiago Santos. Geoff Neal became the first man to finish Vicente Luque with strikes in a near-perfect performance. A pair of The Ultimate Fighter winners were crowned, and the rest of the fights were finished in two rounds or less. With the event now over, we can look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.
The UFC either announced or finalized 23 fights this week, and the promotion is returning to Madison Square Garden with one hell of a headliner.
Israel Adesanya knew it was coming. The ’Last Stylebender’ expected to fight a former foe in his next defense, which is now confirmed. Adesanya and Alex Pereira share the Octagon at UFC 281, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Since becoming the UFC middleweight champion, Adesanya has kept a firm grasp on his belt with five successful defenses. The City Kickboxing product recently dispatched Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision at UFC 276 this past July. And on that same night, Pereira earned his championship opportunity with a first-round KO of Sean Strickland. Of course, Adesanya and Pereira have fought twice before in kickboxing, with ‘Po Atan’ winning by decision and third-round KO at Glory of Heroes and Glory of Heroes 7, respectively. If you have some time, please watch those matches before heading into this one in November.
UFC San Diego — August 13
Angela Hill vs. Lupita ‘Loopy’ Godinez — women’s catchweight (120 lbs.)*
Hill vs. Godinez was already confirmed but shifted from UFC on ESPN+ 70 to UFC San Diego, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland
Youssef Zalal vs. Da’Mon Blackshear — bantamweight
First rep. by Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie
Ariane Lipski vs. Priscila Cachoeira — women’s flyweight*
Lipski vs. Cachoeira was already confirmed but shifted from UFC Vegas 59 to UFC San Diego, per Adriano Albuquerque and Evelyn Rodrigues of Combate
UFC Fight Night — September 17
Mariya Agapova vs. Gillian Robertson — women’s flyweight
Aspen Ladd vs. Sara McMann — women’s bantamweight*
Ladd vs. McMann was already confirmed but shifted from UFC San Diego to UFC Vegas 60 per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting
UFC Fight Night — October 1
John Castañeda vs. Daniel Santos — bantamweight
First rep. by Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie
Randy Brown vs. Francisco Trinaldo — welterweight
First rep. by Brown on his OnlyFans and H/T @alexmma
Cody Garbrandt vs. Rani Yahya — bantamweight*
Garbrandt vs. Yahya was already confirmed but shifted from UFC Vegas 58 to UFC on ESPN+ 69, per Alex Behunin of MMA Mania
UFC Fight Night — October 15
Askar Askarov vs. Brandon Royval — flyweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
C.J. Vergara vs. Tatsuro Taira — flyweight
First rep. by John Morgan of The Underground
Alexa Grasso vs. Viviane Araujo — women’s flyweight*
Grasso vs. Araujo was already confirmed but shifted from UFC San Diego to UFC on ESPN+ 70, per Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
UFC 280 — October 22
Muhammad Mokaev vs. Malcolm Gordon — flyweight
First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Nikita Krylov — light heavyweight
UFC Fight Night — October 29
Andrei Arlovski vs. Marcos Rogério de Lima — heavyweight
First rep. by Raphael Marinho of Combate
Chase Hooper vs. Steve Garcia Jr. — featherweight
First rep. by Tudor Leonte of Sherdog
Dustin Jacoby vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. — light heavyweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
Joseph Holmes vs. Jun Yong Park — middleweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Jared Vanderaa — heavyweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
UFC Fight Night — November 5
Mario Bautista vs. Benito Lopez — bantamweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
UFC 281 — November 12
Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira — middleweight
UFC Fight Night — November 19
Ricky Turcios vs. Kevin Natividad — bantamweight
First rep. by Cooper Burke of Overtime Heroics
UFC Fight Night — December 3
Tracy Cortez vs. Amanda Ribas — women’s flyweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
Matt Schnell vs. Matheus Nicolau — flyweight
First rep. by Farah Hannoun and Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 284 — August 12
Isaiah Hokit vs. Nick Perez — featherweight
Brett Bye vs. M,A, Yah II — contractweight (175 lbs.)
Austin Vanderford vs. Aaron Jeffery — middleweight
First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN
Bellator 285 — September 23
Kirill Sidelnikov vs. Kasim Aras — heavyweight
Bellator 286 — October 1
Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire vs. Adam Borics — featherweight
First rep. by Brian Martin of Long Beach Press-Telegram
AJ McKee vs. Spike Carlyle — lightweight
First rep. by Brian Martin of Long Beach Press-Telegram
Cee Jay Hamilton vs. Richard Palencia — bantamweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 142 — August 13
Erick da Silva vs. Chris Bungard — catchweight (161 lbs.)
Cheriff Larossi vs. Scott Pedersen — featherweight
Oban Elliott vs. Matthew Bonner — welterweight
Milton Cabral vs. George McManus — catchweight (174 lbs.)
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 73 — August 20
Patryk Likus vs. Pascal Hintzen — featherweight
KSW 74 — September 10
Phil de Fries vs. Ricardo Prasel — heavyweight
Damian Janikowski vs. Tom Breese — middleweight