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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 13 fights this week, and a pair of heavy-handed featherweights are on tap for a July headliner.
Ilia Topuria continues to climb the proverbial ladder at featherweight, and the next rung happens to be a former interim title challenger. Álvaro Colmenero of Eurosport España reports Topuria and Josh Emmett are expected to headline an upcoming UFC Fight Night, which is scheduled for June 17 at a soon-to-be-determined location and venue.
Topuria is 5-0 in the UFC, with all but one of his fights ending in a finish. ‘El Matador’ was previously in action at UFC 282, where he submitted Bryce Mitchell via second-round arm-triangle choke. Meanwhile, Emmett recently saw a five-fight win streak snapped by Yair Rodríguez at UFC 284 this past February.
We have a massive UFC pay-per-view on Saturday, folks. Reigning UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira defends his title for the first time against a familiar foe in Israel Adesanya. Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal throw down to decide who is going to “steal” a welterweight title shot away from Colby Covington. And several up-and-coming names such as Adrian Yanez, Raul Rosas Jr. and Joe Pyfer are featured at this event. But before we get to it, let’s take a look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.
Announced UFC fights
UFC 287 — April 8
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Trey Ogden — catchweight (160 lbs.) (First rep. by Farah Hannoun and Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
Karl Williams vs. Chase Sherman — heavyweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
UFC Vegas 72 — April 29
Stephanie Egger vs. Irina Alekseeva — women’s bantamweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
UFC Fight Night — May 13
Tim Means vs. Alex Morono — welterweight (First rep. by Farah Hannoun and Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
Carlos Ulberg vs. Ihor Potieria — light heavyweight (First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
Gabe Green vs. Bryan Battle — welterweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
UFC 289 — June 10
Diana Belbiţă vs. Maria Oliveira — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting)
Blake Bilder vs. Kyle Nelson — featherweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
Matt Schnell vs. David Dvořák — flyweight (First rep. by Logan Offord of MMA Orbit)
Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr — featherweight (First rep. by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)
UFC Fight Night — June 17
Tereza Bledá vs. Gabriella Fernandes — women’s flyweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
Ilia Topuria vs. Josh Emmett — featherweight (First rep. by Álvaro Colmenero of Eurosport España)
UFC Fight Night — June 24
Tatsuro Taira vs. Kleydon Rodrigues — flyweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
Announced Bellator fights
Bellator Paris — May 12
Oliver Enkamp vs. Luca Poclit — welterweight (First rep. by MMA Nytt)
Note: Enkamp vs. Poclit was already confirmed, but shifted from Bellator Dublin to Bellator Paris
Bellator 297 — June 16
Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero — light heavyweight (First rep. by Mike Allardyce of NBC Sports Chicago)
Sergio Pettis vs. Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire — bantamweight (First rep. by Mike Allardyce of NBC Sports Chicago)
Corey Anderson vs. Phil Davis — light heavyweight (First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN)
Announced Cage Warriors fights
Cage Warriors 154 — May 6
Edoardo Caiazza vs Marko Sarasjärvi — featherweight
Yoga Prabowo vs Jefferson De Filippis — bantamweight
Khadim Dia vs Milton Cabral — welterweight
Jasmine Favero vs. Izabela Walczak — women’s bantamweight
Alessandro Giordano vs. Enrico Di Gangi — bantamweight
Emanuele Sabatino vs. Jovidon Khojaev — lightweight
Francesco Mazzeo vs. Joan Arastey — middleweight
Announced KSW fights
KSW 81 — April 22
Werlleson Martins vs. Patryk Surdyn — bantamweight
Sofiia Bagishvili vs. Maria Silva — women’s strawweight
Kamil Gawryjołek vs. Oļegs Jemeļjanovs — heavyweight
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