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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 26 fights this week, and a pair of welterweight finishers have agreed to share the Octagon this summer.
Former UFC champion Rafael Dos Anjos said he has had his ‘last title run’ and shifted his focus to fights that would ‘motivate’ him. It appears as though he got what he wanted because the promotion has paired him up with one of the most exciting 170-pound fighters for his next Octagon appearance: Vicente Luque.
Damon Martin and Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting have reported that the all-Brazilian bout is expected to headline a Fight Night event scheduled for July 15 at a soon-to-be-announced location and venue.
In his return to welterweight, ‘RDA’ submitted Bryan Barberena via second-round neck crank at UFC Orlando this past December. The Brazilian improved to 3-1 in his past four appearances. Luque has suffered back-to-back losses to Belal Muhammad and Geoff Neal, the latter being the first time he has lost by knockout. Prior to those losses, the ‘Silent Assassin’ was on a four-fight win streak that included finishes of Randy Brown, Tyron Woodley and Michael Chiesa.
Announced UFC fights:
UFC Charlotte: Rozenstruik vs. Almeida — May 13
- Natan Levy vs. Pete Rodriguez — lightweight (Levy vs. Rodriguez was already confirmed, but shifted from UFC Vegas 72 to UFC Charlotte, per Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
UFC Vegas 73: Pennington vs. Aldana 2 — May 20
- Stephen Erceg vs. Clayton Carpenter — flyweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
UFC Vegas 74: Kara-France vs. Albazi — June 3
- John Castañeda vs. Mateus Mendonça — bantamweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos — welterweight (First rep. by Carlos Antunes of Canal Encarada)
- Maxim Grishin vs. Philipe Lins — light heavyweight (First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
- Tim Elliott vs. Victor Altamirano — flyweight (First rep. by Altamirano during an IG live with Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
UFC Vegas 75: Vettori vs. Cannonier — June 17
- Raoni Barcelos vs. Miles Johns — bantamweight (First rep. by Diego Ribas of Ag. Fight)
- Muslim Salikhov vs. Nicolas Dalby — welterweight (First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
- Nikolas Motta vs. Manuel Torres — lightweight (First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
- Carlos Hernandez vs. Denys Bondar — flyweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)
UFC Jacksonville: Emmett vs. Topuria — June 24
- Mateusz Rębecki vs. Loik Radzhabov — lightweight (First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
- Tabatha Ricci vs. Gillian Robertson — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Meni Mayer of MMA Ideas)
UFC Vegas 76: Strickland vs. Magomedov — July 1
- Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales — welterweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)
UFC 290 — July 8
- Shannon Ross vs. Jesús Santos Aguilar — flyweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
- Yazmin Jauregui vs. Denise Gomes — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)
UFC Fight Night: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Vicente Luque — July 15
- Ailín Pérez vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith — women’s bantamweight (First rep. by MMA Argento)
- Walt Harris vs. Josh Parisian — heavyweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
- Tyson Nam vs. Azat Maksum — flyweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
- Norma Dumont vs. Chelsea Chandler — women’s featherweight (First rep. by Women’s MMA Rankings)
- Jafel Filho vs. Juancamilo Ronderos — flyweight (First rep. by Diego Ribas of Ag. Fight)
- Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Vicente Luque — welterweight (First rep. by Damon Martin and Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting)
UFC London — July 22
- Molly McCann vs. Julija Stoliarenko — women’s flyweight
- Jamal Pogues vs. Michael Parkin — heavyweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
- Davey Grant vs. Daniel Marcos — bantamweight
- Jai Herbert vs. Fares Ziam — lightweight (First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
UFC Fight Night — August 19
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Mario Bautista — bantamweight (First rep. by Damon Martin of MMA Fighting)
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator Paris — May 12
- Brett Johns vs. Marcirley Alves da Silva — bantamweight
- Sarvarjon Khamidov vs. Kevin Petshi — contractweight (141 lbs.)
Announced Professional Fighters League (PFL) fights:
PFL 4 (2023 Regular Season) — June 8
- Brendan Loughnane vs. Jesus Pinedo — featherweight
- Robert Wilkinson vs. Will Fleury — light heavyweight
- Thiago Santos vs. Mohammed Fakhreddine — light heavyweight
- Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Daniel Torres — featherweight
- Marthin Hamlet vs. Sam Kei — light heavyweight
- Joshua Silveria vs. Delan Monte — light heavyweight
- Bubba Jenkins vs. Jo Sungbin — featherweight
- Krzystof Jotko vs. Ty Flores — light heavyweight
- Alejandro Flores vs. Marlon Moraes — featherweight
- Chris Wade vs. Ryoji Kudo — featherweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 154 — May 6
- Luca Borando vs. Baris Adiguzel — featherweight
Cage Warriors 155 — June 2
- Anthony Orozco vs. Jeremy Fattorusso — welterweight
- Connor Wilson vs. David López — flyweight
- Fran Breen vs. Enrique Montalvo — flyweight
- Teddy Stringer vs. Bryant Shell — lightweight
Cage Warriors 157 — July 21
- Mick Stanton vs. James Webb — middleweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 82 — May 13
- Anita Bekus vs. Aleksandra Toncheva — women’s strawweight
- Donovan Desmae vs. Raul Tutarauli — lightweight
- Maciej Kazieczko vs. Leo Brichta — lightweight
KSW 83 — June 3
- Roman Szymański vs. Valeriu Mircea — lightweight
- Jakub Wiklacz vs. Werlleson Martins — bantamweight
- Krzysztof Głowacki vs. Patryk Tołkaczewski — heavyweight
- Arek Wrzosek vs. Bogdan Stoica — heavyweight