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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 14 fights this week, and one of them features the return of a former champion.
Two years after his leg-shattering loss to Uriah Hall, former champion Chris Weidman is set to return to the Octagon. Newsday Sports’ Mark La Monica reports that the ‘All-American’ faces Brad Tavares at UFC 292, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for Aug. 19 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Prior to his most recent loss, Weidman returned to the win column with a unanimous decision win against Omari Akhmedov at UFC Vegas 6 in 2020. That snapped a two-fight streak for the Serra-Longo Fight Team fighter, who suffered consecutive KO losses to Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Dominick Reyes at UFC 230 and UFC Boston, respectively.
Tavares is 2-4 in his past six appearances. The Hawaiian rebounded from losses to Israel Adesanya and Edmen Shahbazyan with decisions against Antônio Carlos Júnior and the aforementioned Akhmedov. His win streak was short-lived, as Tavares dropped his next two fights against Dricus Du Plessis and Bruno Silva.
Announced UFC fights:
UFC London — July 22
- Bruna Brasil vs. Shauna Bannon — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Seán Sheehan of Severe MMA)
UFC Nashville — August 5
- Billy Quarantillo vs. Damon Jackson — featherweight (First rep. by Quarantillo on his OnlyFans)
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Ľudovít Klein — lightweight (First rep. by Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie)
- Ovince St. Preux vs. Ion Cutelaba — light heavyweight (First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
UFC Vegas 78 — August 12
- Tafon Nchukwi vs. AJ Dobson — middleweight (First rep. by Damon Martin and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)
- Gastón Bolaños vs. Marcus McGhee — bantamweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)
- Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Chris Daukaus — light heavyweight (Rountree Jr. vs. Daukaus was already finalized, but shifted from UFC 289 to UFC Vegas 78, per UFC Stats and Tom Feely of Sherdog)
- Josh Fremd vs. Jamie Pickett — middleweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
UFC 292 — August 19
- Chris Weidman vs. Brad Tavares — middleweight (First rep. by Mark La Monica of Newsday Sports)
- Gregory Rodrigues vs. Denis Tiuliulin — middleweight (Rodrigues vs. Tiuliulin was already finalized, but shifted from UFC Jacksonville to UFC 292, per Rodrigues on Instagram)
- Karine Silva vs. Maryna Moroz — women’s flyweight (First rep. by Mike Heck and Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting)
UFC 293 — September 10
- Viviane Araújo vs. Casey O’Neill — women’s flyweight (First rep. by Meni Mayer of MMA Ideas, new date confirmed by Damon Martin and Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting)
- Carlos Ulberg vs. Da Un Jung — light heavyweight
UFC Fight Night — September 16
- Loopy Godínez vs. Sam Hughes — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator X RIZIN 2 — July 30
- Danny Sabatello vs. Magomed Magomedov — bantamweight
- Andrey Koreshkov vs. Lorenz Larkin — welterweight
Announced PFL fights:
PFL 6 (2023 Regular Season) — June 23
- Zach Juusola vs. Jarrah Al-Silawi — welterweight
PFL Playoffs 1 — August 4
- Bubba Jenkins vs. Jesus Pinedo — featherweight
- Gabriel Braga vs. Movlid Khaybulaev — featherweight
- Josh Silveira vs. Ty Flores — light heavyweight
- Marthin Hamlet vs. Impa Kasanganay — light heavyweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 156 — July 1
- Ieuan Davies vs. El Hadji Ndiaye — lightweight
- Andrew Clamp vs. Ghassan Abdenabi — light heavyweight
- Jimmy Quinn vs. Dan Kneil — bantamweight
Cage Warriors 157 — July 21
- Daniel Skibiński vs. Madars Fleminas — welterweight
- Omiel Brown vs. Jesse Urholin — welterweight
- Weslley Maia vs. Shirzad Qadrian — bantamweight
- Nik Bagley vs. Grant Ogborne — featherweight
- Thomas Paull vs. Alberth Dias — featherweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 84 — July 15
- Phil De Fries vs. Szymon Bajor — heavyweight (First rep. by Tudor Leonte of Sherdog)