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Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis set
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 26 fights this week, and a No. 1 contender at middleweight is official.
During his post-fight press conference at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Allen, UFC president Dana White said that Israel Adesanya ‘wants to fight nonstop, constantly,’ so he expects to schedule his next defense soon. All the reigning UFC middleweight champion needs is a time, place and opponent — and White revealed all three of those recently.
White announced a slew of fights this week, and one of them was a No. 1 middleweight contender between Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis. The winner of Whittaker vs. Du Plessis would face Adesanya at an upcoming event in Sydney, Australia near the end of the year.
Though 0-2 against Adesanya, the ‘Reaper’ has fought his way to a potential third fight with the ‘Last Stylebender’ with wins against Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, Kelvin Gastelum and Marvin Vettori. As for Du Plessis, the former KSW champion has rattled off five consecutive wins, with his most recent being a second-round TKO of Derek Brunson.
Announced UFC fights:
UFC Vegas 72 — April 29
- Josh Quinlan vs. Trey Waters — welterweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
UFC 288 — May 6
- Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns — welterweight
UFC Vegas 73 — May 20
- Chase Hooper vs. Nick Fiore — lightweight (First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
- Raquel Pennington vs. Irene Aldana — women’s bantamweight
- Victoria Leonardo vs. Natalia Silva — women’s flyweight
- Orion Cosce vs. Gilbert Urbina — welterweight
- Andre Fialho vs. Joaquin Buckley — welterweight
- Emily Ducote vs. Polyana Viana — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
- Takashi Sato vs. Themba Gorimbo — welterweight (First rep. by Twitter user ExoSkeletonMan)
UFC Vegas 74 — June 3
- Alex Caceres vs. Daniel Pineda — featherweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
- Luan Lacerda vs. Da’Mon Blackshear — bantamweight (First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
- Jim Miller vs. Ľudovít Klein — lightweight (First rep. by Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie)
UFC 289 — June 10
- Nassourdine Imavov vs. Chris Curtis — middleweight (First rep. by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)
- Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Chris Daukaus — light heavyweight
- Mike Malott vs. Adam Fugitt — welterweight (First rep. by Aaron Bronsteter of TSN Sports)
- Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush — lightweight (First rep. by The Schmo)
UFC Vegas 75 — June 17
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Zac Pauga — light heavyweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
- Marvin Vettori vs. Jared Cannonier — middleweight
UFC Jacksonville — June 24
- Punahele Soriano vs. Sedriques Dumas — middleweight (First rep. by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)
UFC Vegas 76 — July 1
- Sean Strickland vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov — middleweight
- Ariane Lipski vs. Melissa Gatto — women’s flyweight (First rep. by Ag. Fight)
- Joanderson Brito vs. Khusein Askhabov — featherweight (First rep. by Mike Heck and Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting)
UFC 290 — July 8
- Robbie Lawler vs. Niko Price — welterweight
- Jalin Turner vs. Dan Hooker — lightweight
- Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis — middleweight
- Sean Brady vs. Jack Della Maddalena — welterweight (First rep. by Twitter user Bendaman2001)
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 154 — May 6
- Dario Bellandi vs. Daniel Karlsson — middleweight
- Cornellius Aritonang vs. Gianluca Ancora — featherweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 82 — May 13
- Gracjan Szadziński vs. Wilson Varela — lightweight
- Filip Macek vs. Sebastian Przybysz — bantamweight
KSW 83 — June 3
- Michał Materla vs. Radek Paczuski — middleweight
- Jakub Wikłacz vs. Zurkiko Jojua — bantamweight