Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
The UFC had another solid showing in its eight-week stretch of action as UFC Vegas 49 provided us with plenty of entertainment this past Saturday night. Now that it is over, we can preview what comes next on the schedule. The promotion either announced or finalized 15 fights this week, and a surprising rematch has been confirmed for an upcoming pay-per-view event in May.
Over seven years removed from their first fight, Mauricio Rua and Ovince Saint Preux have agreed to meet again. The light heavyweight veterans will rematch at UFC 274 on May 7, with a location and venue soon to be determined. Rua and Saint Preux headlined UFC Fight Night 56 in Brazil, where ‘OSP’ finished ‘Shogun’ in just 34 seconds. Since then, the Brazilian has gone 5-2-1 in his past eight appearances. Saint Preux has recently suffered back-to-back knockout losses to Jamahal Hill and Tanner Boser at UFC Vegas 16 and UFC Vegas 30, respectively.
Bellator has given an extra boost to its return to London with the addition of a welterweight showdown between Paul Daley and Andrey Koreshkov. In what is expected to be his retirement fight, Daley will look to return to the win column after having a three-fight win streak snapped by Jason Jackson at Bellator 260 last June. Koreshkov was seen earlier this month at Bellator 274, where he stopped Chance Rencountre with a devastating spinning back kick in 38 seconds.
UFC 272 — March 5
Devonte Smith vs. Ľudovít Klein — lightweight
UFC Fight Night — March 12
JJ Aldrich vs. Gillian Robertson — women’s flyweight
Sabina Mazo vs. Miranda Maverick — women’s flyweight
UFC Fight Night — April 16
Miguel Baeza vs. Andre Fialho — welterweight
UFC Fight Night — April 23
Charles Jourdain vs. Lando Vannata — featherweight
UFC 274 — May 7
Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua vs. Ovince St. Preux — light heavyweight
Brandon Royval vs. Matt Schnell — flyweight
Michael Johnson vs. Alan Patrick — lightweight
Journey Newson vs. Fernie Garcia — bantamweight
UFC Fight Night — May 14
Nick Maximov vs. Andre Petroski — middleweight
UFC Fight Night — May 21
Omar Morales vs. Uroš Medić — lightweight
Joseph Holmes vs. Alen Amedovski — middleweight
UFC Fight Night — June 4
Jeff Molina vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov — flyweight
Ode Osbourne vs. Zarrukh Adashev — flyweight
UFC 275 — June 11
Glover Teixeira vs. Jiří Procházka — light heavyweight*
*Teixeira vs. Procházka was already finalized, but it shifted from UFC 274 to UFC 275
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator Paris — May 6
Pedro Carvalho vs. Khasan Askhabov — featherweight
Bellator London — May 13
Paul Daley vs. Andrey Koreshkov — welterweight
Oliver Enkamp vs. Mark Lemminger — welterweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 133 — March 4
Justin Barry vs. Ke’ali’i Kanekoa — middleweight
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