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
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