Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
ONE Championship was the ‘MVP’ this past weekend, giving us two events in ONE 160 and ONE on Prime Video 1. Christian Lee reclaimed the lightweight championship with a second-round TKO of Rae Yoon Ok on Friday, and Demetrious Johnson added to his legacy with a fourth-round TKO of Adriano Moraes on Saturday. With those events now over, we can look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.
The UFC either announced or finalized 24 fights this week, and an upcoming pay-per-view event has received a bit of a boost in star power with its recent edition.
UFC 279 is two weeks away, and the promotion is adding some finishing touches to the event. Among them is a 180-pound fight between Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez, who were previously scheduled to share the Octagon over two years ago.
Holland has found great success since returning to welterweight, finishing Alex Oliveira and Tim Means at UFC 272 and UFC Austin, respectively. Prior to that, the ‘Trailblazer’ went 8-4-1 at middleweight. Rodriguez is on a three-fight win streak, with his most recent win against Kevin Lee at UFC Vegas 35. ‘D-Rod’ has not fought since then as he spent a year away recuperating from a hand injury.
UFC Paris — September 3
Khalid Taha vs. Cristian Quiñonez — bantamweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
Ailín Pérez vs. Stephanie Egger — women’s featherweight
First rep. by MMA Fight Club
William Gomis vs. Jarno Errens — featherweight
First rep. by La Sueur
UFC 279 — September 10
Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez — catchweight (180 lbs.)
First rep. by Holland on Instagram
UFC Fight Night — October 1
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Ilir Latifi — heavyweight
Oleinik vs. Latifi was already finalized, but shifted to UFC Vegas 61, per MMA Fight Universe
Maxim Grishin vs. Philipe Lins — light heavyweight
First rep. by Raphael Marinho of Combate
UFC Vegas 61 — October 15
Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Joanderson Brito — featherweight
First rep. by Maranhão MMA
UFC 280 — October 22
Magomed Mustafaev vs. Jamie Mullarkey — lightweight
First rep. by Tom Feely of Sherdog
UFC Fight Night — November 5
Jake Hadley vs. Carlos Candelario — flyweight
First rep. by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting
Miranda Maverick vs. Shanna Young — women’s flyweight
Maverick vs. Young was already finalized, but shifted from UFC 278 to UFC on ESPN+ 72, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland
UFC 281 — November 12
Dan Hooker vs. Claudio Puelles — lightweight
First rep. by Fordewin MMA
Carlos Ulberg vs. Nicolae Negumereanu — light heavyweight
First rep. by Christopher Reive of NZ Herald
UFC Fight Night — November 19
Maria Oliveira vs. Vanessa Demopoulos — women’s strawweight
First rep. by Meni Mayer
Cody Brundage vs. Rodolfo Vieira — middleweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
Jack Shore vs. Kyler Phillips — bantamweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Charles Johnson — flyweight
Muslim Salikhov vs. Andre Fialho — welterweight
First rep. by Full Violence
UFC Orlando — December 3
Marc Diakiese vs. Michael Johnson — lightweight
First rep. by Al Zullino
Clay Guida vs. Scott Holtzman — lightweight
Angela Hill vs. Emily Ducote — women’s strawweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
UFC 282 — December 10
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Dalcha Lungiambula — middleweight
First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland
UFC Vegas 63 — December 17
Julian Marquez vs. Deron Winn — middleweight
First rep. by Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie
Tafon Nchukwi vs. Jamal Pogues — heavyweight
Sergey Morozov vs. Journey Newson — bantamweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 286 — October 1
Sumiko Inaba vs. Nadine Mandiau — women’s flyweight
Weber Almeida vs. Ryan Lilley — featherweight
Bellator Milan — October 29
Luke Trainer vs. Lucas Alsina — light heavyweight
First rep. by Tony Mogan of Metro
Announced Invicta FC fights:
Invicta FC 49 — September 28
Jéssica Delboni vs. Jillian DeCoursey — women’s atomweight
Kristina Williams vs. Ketlen Souza — women’s flyweight
Liz Tracy vs. Valesca Machado — women’s strawweight
Kaytlin Neil vs. Hannah Guy — women’s flyweight
Helen Peralta vs. Poliana Botelho — women’s flyweight
Brittney Cloudy vs. Montserrat Rendon — women’s bantamweight
Nadia Vera vs. Shauna Bannon — women’s strawweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 144 — October 7
Carlo Pedersoli Jr. vs. Madars Fleminas — welterweight
Dylan Hazan vs. Daan Duijs — bantamweight
Bryony Tyrell vs. Micol di Segni — women’s strawweight
Emanuele Sabatino vs. Karol Michalak — welterweight
Cage Warriors 145 — November 4
Festus Ahorlu vs. Faisal Malik — bantamweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 74 — September 10
Kacper Koziorzębski vs. Emil Weber Meek — welterweight
Cezary Kęsik vs. Tomasz Romanowski — middleweight
Anita Bekus vs. Sofiia Bagishvili — women’s strawweight
Werlleson Martins vs. Paweł Polityło — bantamweight