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.
The end-of-year schedule for the UFC keeps getting better and better. The promotion announced or finalized 17 fights this week, and the two welterweights involved in one of the most infamous moments in recent memory finally have a chance to settle their beef.
It took almost two years, but the wait is now over. Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal are expected to meet at UFC 269 in December. Edwards and Masvidal have been on each other’s radars since their performances at UFC on ESPN+ 5, where ‘Rocky’ earned a split decision over Gunnar Nelson and ‘Gamebred’ knocked out Darren Till. The welterweights sized each other up after a backstage interview between Masvidal and reporter Laura Sanko was interrupted by Edwards, who appeared to be angling for a fight. Some words were exchanged, and then Masvidal calmly walked over to Edwards, delivered a few punches (or a three-piece and a soda) and left.
Although a fight between Edwards and Masvidal made a lot of sense, especially after that moment, it was never made. Edwards instead fought Rafael dos Anjos, Belal Muhammad and Nate Diaz. At the same time, Masvidal ascended to unimaginable heights with knockouts over Ben Askren and the previously mentioned Diaz before coming up short in two back-to-back championship fights against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 and UFC 261 respectively.
Bellator was quiet again this week and confirmed the lineup of their upcoming debut in Russia.
UFC 267 — October 30
Hu Yaozong vs. Andre Petroski — middleweight
UFC 268 — November 6
Phil Hawes vs. Chris Curtis — middleweight
UFC Fight Night — November 13
Miguel Baeza vs. Khaos Williams — welterweight
UFC Fight Night — December 4
Jake Matthews vs. Jeremiah Wells — welterweight
UFC 269 — December 11
Leon Edwards vs. Jorge Masvidal — welterweight
Geoff Neal vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio — welterweight
Maybe Barber vs. Erin Blanchfield — women’s flyweight
UFC 270 — January 22
Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo — flyweight
Michael Morales vs. Trevin Giles — welterweight
Matt Frevola vs. Genaro Valdez — lightweight
UFC Fight Night — February 5
Ian Heinisch vs. Sam Alvey — middleweight
Hakeem Dawadu vs. Mike Trizano — featherweight
UFC 271 — February 12
Kyler Phillips vs. Marcelo Rojo — bantamweight
UFC Fight Night — February 19
Jesse Strader vs. Chad Anheliger — bantamweight
Austin Lingo vs. Jonathan Pearce — featherweight
UFC Fight Night — February 26
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Rongzhu — lightweight
UFC Fight Night — TBD
Warlley Alves vs. Jack Della — welterweight
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 269 — October 23
Anatoly Tokov vs. Sharaf Davlatmurodov — middleweight
Bellator 271 — November 12
Aaron Pico vs. Justin Gonzeles — featherweight
Announced RIZIN fights:
RIZIN 32 — November 20
Rena Kubota vs. Miyuu Yamamoto — women’s super atomweight
Mitsuhisa Sunabe vs. Yutaro Muramoto — flyweight
Tomohiro Adinaya vs. Yuichi Miyagi — flyweight