Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
We have a break in the eight weeks of action provided by the UFC, but there is still plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks. The promotion either announced or finalized 15 fights this week, and an interesting middleweight contest between a top-ranked contender and a former two-division kickboxing champion is in the works for the summer.
Sean Strickland was disappointed in his performance against Jack Hermansson in his most recent appearance, but he has the opportunity to turn things around in his next fight. ‘Tarzan’ and Alex Pereira have verbally agreed to share the Octagon at UFC 277, the pay-per-view event scheduled for July 30 at a soon-to-be-determined location and venue. Strickland will enter the fight on a six-fight win streak, which includes decisions over Krzysztof Jotko, Uriah Hall and the previously mentioned Hermansson. ‘Po Atan’ signed with the UFC this past September and debuted at UFC 268, where he scored a first-round flying knee knockout of Andreas Michailidis. The Brazilian then met a fellow feared knockout artist in Bruno Silva, who he defeated via unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 50 in March.
Bellator has confirmed its headliner for Bellator 278 in April. Juliana Velasquez defends her flyweight championship again, this time against Liz Carmouche.
UFC 273: Volkanovski vs TKZ — April 9
Aspen Ladd vs. Raquel Pennington — women’s bantamweight
UFC VEGAS 51: Luque vs Muhammad — April 16
Jordan Leavitt vs. Trey Ogden — lightweight
UFC VEGAS 52: Lemos vs Andrade — April 23
Tanner Boser vs. Alexandr Romanov — heavyweight
UFC VEGAS 53: Font vs Vera & Shevchenko vs Casey — April 30
Jared Gordon vs. Grant Dawson — lightweight
UFC VEGAS 54: Blachowicz vs Rakić — May 14
Ryan Spann vs. Ion Cutelaba — light heavyweight*
*Spann vs. Cutelaba was already finalized, but it shifted from UFC Vegas 49 to UFC on ESPN+ 67
Louis Smolka vs. Davey Grant — bantamweight
Katlyn Chookagian vs. Amanda Ribas — women’s flyweight
Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakić — light heavyweight*
*Blachowicz vs. Rakić was already finalized, but it shifted from UFC Columbus to UFC on ESPN+ 67
UFC VEGAS 55: Holm vs Vieira — May 21
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Michel Pereira — welterweight
Eryk Anders vs. Jun Yong Park — middleweight
UFC Fight Night — June 4
Andreas Michailidis vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov — welterweight
UFC Fight Night — June 25
Jinh Yu Frey vs. Vanessa Demopoulos — women’s strawweight
Tim Elliott vs. Amir Albazi — flyweight
UFC 276 — July 2
Jessica Eye vs. Casey O’Neill — women’s flyweight
UFC 277 — July 30
Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira — middleweight
Announced Bellator MMA fights:
Bellator 277 — April 15
Tyrell Fortune vs. Rakim Cleveland — heavyweight
Bellator 278 — April 22
Juliana Velasquez vs. Liz Carmouche — women’s flyweight
Jornel Lugo vs. Danny Sabatello — bantamweight
Bellator 279 — April 23
Juan Archuleta vs. Raufeon Stots — bantamweight
Bellator London — May 13
Michael ‘Venom’ Page vs. Logan Storley — welterweight
Bellator Dublin — September 23
Benson Henderson vs. Peter Queally — lightweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 135 — April 1
Ander Sanchez vs. Connor Wilson — flyweight
Bakhtyaar Oryakhail vs. Caolan Loughran — bantamweight
Paull McBain vs. Federico Pasquali — catchweight (150 lbs.)
Hugo Guillon vs. Matty Byfield — light heavyweight
Daniel Skibiński vs. Justin Burlinson — welterweight
Cage Warriors 136 — April 2
Alexis Fontes vs. Mick Stanton — middleweight
El Hadji Ndiaye vs. Adam Cullen — lightweight
Piotr Chmielecki vs. Michael Tchamou — middleweight
Jeanderson Castro vs. Aleksi Mäntykivi — welterweight
Announced Professional Fighters League (PFL) fights:
PFL 1 (2022 Regular Season) — April 20
Raush Manfio vs. Dan Madge — lightweight
Anthony Pettis vs. Myles Price — lightweight
Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Delan Monte — light heavyweight
Jeremy Stephens vs. Clay Collard — lightweight
Emeliano Sordi vs. Josh Silveira — light heavyweight
Natan Schulte vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier — lightweight
Marthin Hamlet vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis — light heavyweight
Omari Ahkmedov vs. Viktor Pesta — light heavyweight
Robert Wilkinson vs. Bruce Souto — light heavyweight
Stevie Ray vs. Alexander Martinez — lightweight
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