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.
There were lowlights and highlights, but UFC 274 was an okay offering. Charles Oliveira reigned supreme, Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza were involved in a five-round dud and Michael Chandler delivered a ‘Knockout of the Year’ contender with a brutal front kick that slept the notoriously tough Tony Ferguson.
With that event over, let’s look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule. The UFC either announced or finalized 19 fights this week, and the headliner and co-headliner for one of the year’s biggest cards has been confirmed.
International Fight Week is known for concluding with one hell of a pay-per-view event, and this year is no different. UFC 276 goes down on July 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where two City Kickboxing champions are now expected to defend their championships. Israel Adesanya faces Jared Cannonier in the headliner, while Alexander Volkanovski shares the Octagon with Max Holloway for the third (and potentially final) time in the co-headliner.
Consecutive rematches against Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker kept Adesanya busy, but the reigning UFC middleweight champion wanted ‘fresh meat’ from the division. The best option? None other than Cannonier, who has been clamoring for an opportunity opposite Adesanya for quite some time. The ‘Killa Gorilla’ punched (literally and figuratively) his ticket to gold with a second-round technical knockout of Derek Brunson at UFC 271, the same event where ‘The Last Stylebender’ earned another win over the aforementioned Whittaker. It was clear Adesanya vs. Cannonier would be next, and we finally get to see it.
The trilogy between Volkanovski and Holloway is also on its way. Originally scheduled for UFC 272 this past March, Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3 was delayed after ‘Blessed’ suffered an injury in training that he would not recover from in time to fight. The ‘Great’ went on to meet Chan Sung Jung a month later at UFC 273, where he defended the featherweight throne in a brutal beatdown of ‘The Korean Zombie’. Holloway eventually recovered from his injury and was again tapped to fight Volkanovski.
UFC Vegas 55 — May 21
Elise Reed vs. Sam Hughes — women’s strawweight
UFC Vegas 56 — June 4
Tony Gravely vs. Johnny Muñoz Jr. — bantamweight
UFC 275 — June 11
Rogério Bontorin vs. Manel Kape — flyweight
UFC AUSTIN — June 18
Joaquin Buckley vs. Albert Duraev — middleweight
UFC Fight Night — June 25
Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mateusz Gamrot — lightweight
UFC 276 — July 2
Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier — middleweight
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway — featherweight
Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira — middleweight*
* Strickland vs. Pereira was already finalized, but shifted from UFC 277 to UFC 276
Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena — welterweight
Sean O’Malley vs. Pedro Munhoz — bantamweight
UFC Fight Night — July 9
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev — lightweight
Cody Garbrandt vs. Rani Yahya — bantamweight
UFC Fight Night — July 16
Jessica Penne vs. Brianna Fortino — women’s strawweight
Punahele Soriano vs. Dalcha Lungiambula — middleweight
UFC 277 — July 30
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Anthony Smith — light heavyweight
Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold — middleweight
Ji Yeon Kim vs. Mariya Agapova — women’s flyweight
UFC Fight Night — August 6
Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill — light heavyweight
Cory McKenna vs. Miranda Granger — women’s strawweight
Announced Bellator MMA fights:
Bellator 282 — June 24
Cat Zingano vs. Pam Sorenson — women’s featherweight*
* Zingano vs. Sorenson was already finalized, but shifted from Bellator 276 to Bellator 282
Dan Moret vs. Killys Mota — lightweight
Sabah Homasi vs. Maycon Mendonca — welterweight
Bryce Logan vs. Mandel Nallo — lightweight
Bellator TBA — July 8
Douglas Lima vs. Jason Jackson — welterweight*
* Lima vs. Jackson was already finalized, but shifted from Bellator 281 to Bellator TBA
Bellator Dublin — September 23
Yoel Romero vs. Melvin Manhoef — light heavyweight*
* Romero vs. Manhoef was already finalized, but shifted from Bellator 280 to Bellator Dublin
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 137 — May 27
Tanio Pagliariccio vs. Benoit Blanc — flyweight
Micha? Denis Folc vs. Liam Molloy — featherweight
Cage Warriors 138 — May 28
Connor Hignett vs. Michelangelo Lupoli — flyweight
Joshua Reed vs. Luke Shanks — bantamweight
Herkus Lukoši?nas vs. Oban Elliott — welterweight
Jack Dedames vs. Omran Chaaban — welterweight
Cage Warriors 139 — June 10
Armando Murillo Jr vs. Elijah Harris — light heavyweight
Jordan Bailey vs. Alex Trinidad — lightweight
Cesar Gonzalez vs. Jamey Lynch — lightweight
Hakaraia Wilson vs. Tyler Escoto — welterweight
Albert Lee vs. Bill Wilson — lightweight
Cage Warriors 140 — June 25
Ryan Shelley vs. Matthew Elliott — featherweight
Federico Pasquali vs. Harry Hardwick — featherweight
Glenn Irvine vs. Michael Tchamou — middleweight
Cage Warriors 141 — July 22
Kyle Driscoll vs. George Hardwick — lightweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 70 — May 28
Ricardo Prasel vs. Daniel Omiela?czuk — heavyweight
Marek Samociuk vs. Izuagbe Ugonoh — heavyweight
Announced Invicta FC fights:
Invicta FC 47 — May 11
Serena DeJesus vs. Brittney Cloudy — women’s bantamweight