Fights on Tap: Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier among 21 UFC fights announced

Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.

The UFC either announced or finalized 21 fights this week, and a lightweight championship bout has officially been confirmed to headline the final pay-per-view event of the year.

With contracts now signed, reigning champion Charles Oliveira will make his first title defense against No. 1 contender Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 in December. ‘Do Bronx’ won the vacant lightweight championship with a second-round technical knockout of Michael Chandler at UFC 262 this past May. Meanwhile, ‘The Diamond’ completed a trilogy with Conor McGregor in back-to-back appearances that saw him finish the Irishman twice by technical knockout.

Bellator added some exciting fights to its upcoming schedule, with women’s featherweights getting some extra shine. Cris Cyborg will return to the cage at Bellator 271, where she defends her title against Sinead Kavanagh. On the same night, Arlene Blencowe and Pam Sorenson meet in a battle between two of the top ten in the division .

UFC Vegas 40 — October 16

Norma Dumont vs. Aspen Ladd — women’s featherweight

Batgerel Danaa vs. Brandon Davis — bantamweight

Jim Miller vs. Erick Gonzalez — lightweight

UFC Vegas 41 — October 23

Khama Worthy vs. Jai Herbert — lightweight

Jamie Pickett vs. Laureano Staropoli — middleweight

UFC Vegas 42 — November 13

Kevin Holland vs. Kyle Daukaus — middleweight

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Da Un Jung — light heavyweight

UFC Vegas 43 — November 20

Joanne Calderwood vs. Taila Santos — women’s flyweight

Rani Yahya vs. Kyung Ho Kang — bantamweight

Sean Soriano vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke — lightweight

UFC Vegas 44 — December 4

Louis Smolka vs. Vince Morales — bantamweight

UFC 269 — December 11

Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier — lightweight

UFC Fight Night — January 15

Giga Chikadze vs. Calvin Kattar — featherweight

Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Court McGee — welterweight

UFC 270 — January 22

Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane — heavyweight

Cody Stamann vs. Said Nurmagomedov — bantamweight

UFC Fight Night — February 5

Jason Witt vs. Phil Rowe — welterweight

Danilo Marques vs. Jailton Almeida — light heavyweight

Miles Johns vs. John Castañeda — bantamweight

Julian Erosa vs. Steven Peterson — featherweight

UFC 271 — February 12

Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Sergey Morozov — bantamweight

Announced Bellator fights:

Bellator 269 — October 23

Daniel Straus vs. Keith Richardson — featherweight

Bellator 270 — November 5

Peter Queally vs. Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire — lightweight

Gökhan Saricam vs. Rob Beech — heavyweight

Bellator 271 — November 12

Cris Cyborg vs. Sinead Kavanagh — women’s featherweight

Arlene Blencowe vs. Pam Sorenson — women’s featherweight

Tyrell Fortune vs. Linton Vassell — heavyweight

Announced Cage Warriors fights:

Cage Warriors 130 — October 17

Damon Wilson vs. Theodore Macuka — featherweight

Josh Wang-Kim vs. Jose Hernandez — bantamweight

Announced RIZIN fights:

RIZIN 31 — October 24

Yutaka Saito vs. Juntaro Ushiku — featherweight

Kanna Asakura vs. Saori Oshima — women’s atomweight

Tsuyoshi Sudario vs. SAINT — heavyweight

Yusaku Nakamura vs. Yuki Ito — flyweight

Daisuke Nakamura vs. Suguru Nii — featherweight

Masanori Kanehara vs. Takahiro Ashida — featherweight

Daichi Abe vs. Akira Okada — lightweight

Rikuto Shirakawa vs. Takuya Yamamoto — featherweight

Seiichiro Ito vs Kunta Hashimoto — flyweight