The UFC and Bellator MMA will apparently go head-to-head on May 12th, just as they did on January 20th of this year.
The UFC’s first event in Brazil for 2018 is less than 24 hours away from commencing, and it looks as if the South American country will receive a pay-per-view event in mid-May.
Combate reports that UFC 224 is slated to take place on May 12th at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Last year, the same venue hosted UFC 212 in June, with Max Holloway TKOing Jose Aldo to become the new featherweight champion. This year’s return to Rio could feature an all-Brazilian superfight between women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg and bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes. Cyborg is on record as wanting that fight to happen on a big event, such as International Fight Week in July.
No critical updates have been made with regards to turning Cyborg vs. Nunes into reality, so for now, UFC 224 has no fights scheduled.
The same report also says that Chile is expected to have a UFC Fight Night card on May 19th, a European-based show is targeted for May 26th, and a debut appearance in Denmark is on course to happen in July.
Also of note is that UFC 224 would be going up against Bellator MMA in San Jose, CA, where Ryan Bader and Muhammed Lawal will meet in the promotion’s heavyweight tournament. The UFC and Bellator MMA already went head-to-head just two weeks ago, with UFC 220 going opposite Bellator 192: Rampage vs. Sonnen. Bellator’s card was confirmed for that date a month before the announcement of UFC 220.