Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
What a weekend for combat sports. From Leon Edwards’ ‘KO of the Year’ and ‘Comeback of the Year’ fifth-round knockout of Kamaru Usman for the welterweight championship to Mike Perry defeating Michael ‘Venom’ Page in sudden death at BKFC 27, we saw a lot of ‘WOW!’ moments. With those events now over, though, it’s time to look at what we have ahead on the combat sports schedule.
The UFC either announced or finalized 23 fights this week, and a newly crowned champion has her first defense set.
Carla Esparza is returning to the Octagon for her first defense after dethroning ex-strawweight champion Rose Namajunas at UFC 274 this past May. The ‘Cookie Monster’ fights Zhang Weili in the co-main event of UFC 281, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Weili earned an opportunity against Esparza with a second-round spinning backfist KO of Joanna Jędrzejczyk at UFC 275 in June. ‘Magnum’ previously held the strawweight championship before being defeated by Rose Namajunas twice.
UFC Paris — September 3
Benoit Saint-Denis vs. Gabriel Miranda — lightweight
First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland
Fares Ziam vs. Michal Figlak — lightweight
First rep. by La Sueur
UFC 279 — September 10
Li Jingliang vs. Tony Ferguson — welterweight
UFC Vegas 60 — September 17
Andre Fili vs. Bill Algeo — featherweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
UFC Fight Night — October 1
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Chris Daukaus — heavyweight
First rep. by Rozenstruik on Instagram
Joaquim Silva vs. Jesse Ronson — lightweight
First rep. by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting
Mike Davis vs. Uroš Medić — lightweight
First rep. by David Van Auken
UFC Vegas 61 — October 15
Mike Jackson vs. Pete Rodriguez — welterweight
First rep. by Matthew Wells and Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland — middleweight
First rep. by Ariel Helwani
Misha Cirkunov vs. Alonzo Menifield — light heavyweight
Raphael Assunção vs. Victor Henry — bantamweight
UFC 280 — October 22
Lina Länsberg vs. Karol Rosa — women’s bantamweight
Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Parker Porter — heavyweight
First rep. by Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie
UFC Vegas 62 — October 29
Cody Durden vs. Kleydson Rodrigues — flyweight
UFC 281 — November 12
Dominick Reyes vs. Ryan Spann — light heavyweight
First rep. by Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie
Mike Trizano vs. SeungWoo Choi — featherweight
First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland
Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili — women’s strawweight
First rep. by Ariel Helwani
Brad Riddell vs. Renato Moicano — lightweight
First rep. by Moicano on Twitter Spaces with MMA Junkie
Silvana Gómez Juárez vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz — women’s strawweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
Ottman Azaitar vs. Matt Frevola — lightweight
First rep. by Matt Frevola on Twitter
UFC Fight Night — December 3
Marcelo Rojo vs. Francis Marshall — featherweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
Natan Levy vs. Genaro Valdéz — lightweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
UFC 282 — December 10
Robbie Lawler vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio — welterweight
First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 143 — September 23
Erick Sanchez vs. Jamey Lynch — lightweight
Elijah Harris vs. Trey Williams — light heavyweight
Cage Warriors 144 — October 7
Dominique Wooding vs. Michele Martignoni — bantamweight
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