UFC boosts schedule with pair of new headliners

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 16 fights this week, and we are set for some upcoming international trips.

This past Thursday, UFC president Dana White announced a trio of headliners, two of which see the promotion go international in the next couple of months. Aside from the unbelievable bantamweight bout between Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov set for UFC Nashville, White also revealed that Max Holloway vs. Chan Sung Jung and Ciryl Gane vs. Serghei Spivac would top UFC Singapore and UFC Paris, respectively.

Following his unanimous decision win against Arnold Allen this past April, ‘Blessed’ expressed interest in fighting someone he considered a true OG of his division: Chan Sung Jung, better known as the ‘Korean Zombie.’ Shortly after, Jung responded to Holloway, saying he would fight him ‘anytime, anywhere’ — and now we know when and where that will be. UFC Singapore goes down on Sat., Aug. 26, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

Nearly a year after he headlined the first UFC event in Paris, Ciryl Gane will do it again for its second one. ‘Bon Gamin’ and Serghei Spivac have agreed to share the Octagon at UFC Paris, the upcoming event scheduled for Sat, Sept. 2, at the Accor Arena in Paris, France. In his most recent appearance, the French fighter suffered a first-round loss to Jon Jones for the then-vacant UFC heavyweight championship. A month prior to that, Spivac earned his first ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded bonus for a first-round submission of Derrick Lewis.

Announced UFC fights:

UFC Jacksonville — June 24

• Trevor Peek vs. Jose ‘Chepe’ Mariscal — lightweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
• Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Joshua Van — flyweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
• Cody Brundage vs. Sedriques Dumas — middleweight (First rep. by Damon Martin and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)

UFC Vegas 76 — July 1

• Guram Kutateladze vs. Elves Brenner — lightweight (First rep. by MMA TIME)
• Yana Santos vs. Karol Rosa — women’s featherweight (First rep. by WMMA Rankings)

UFC Vegas 77 — July 15

• Tucker Lutz vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan — featherweight (First rep. by UFC Stats, H/T Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)

UFC Nashville — August 5

• Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov — bantamweight
• Sean Woodson vs. Steve Garcia Jr. — featherweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)

UFC Vegas 78 — August 12

• Francis Marshall vs. Issac Dulgarian — featherweight (First rep. by Damon Martin and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)

UFC Singapore — August 26

• Max Holloway vs. Chan Sung Jung — featherweight
• Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Łukasz Brzeski — heavyweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)

UFC 292 — August 19

• Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry — welterweight (First rep. by Peter Carroll of RTÉ Sport)
• Andrea Lee vs. Natália Silva — women’s flyweight (First rep. by ESPN MMA)

UFC Paris — September 2

• Ciryl Gane vs. Serghei Spivac — heavyweight

UFC Vegas 79 — September 23

• Jake Collier vs. Valter Ignacio Walker — heavyweight (First rep. by Laerte Viana)
• Bruno Silva vs. Cody Durden — flyweight (First rep. by Durden)

Announced Professional Fighters League (PFL) fights:

PFL Playoffs 2 — August 18

• Larissa Pacheco vs. Olena Kolesnyk — women’s featherweights
• Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Amber Leibrock — women’s featherweight
• Denis Golstov vs. Jordan Heiderman — heavyweight
• Renan Ferreira vs. Marcelo Nunes — heavyweight

Announced Cage Warriors fights:

Cage Warriors 156 — July 1

• Stephanie Evans vs. Małgorzata Tkocz — women’s featherweight
• Scott Pedersen vs. Yohan Salvador — featherweight
• Reece McEwan vs. Leonardo de Oliveira — bantamweight

Cage Warriors 157 — July 21

• Tom Mearns vs. Bailey Gilbert — featherweight
• Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Shawn Da Silva — flyweight
• Jordan Vucenic vs. Brice Picaud — featherweight
• Wesley Machado vs. Orlando Prins — featherweight

Cage Warriors 158 — July 29

• Gianluca Rocca vs. Guido Possidente — lightweight
• Emanuele Zaccaria vs. Sylwester Miller — bantamweight
• Emanuele Sabatino vs. Aaron Johnson — lightweight
• Michael Pagani vs. James Power — lightweight
• Gianluca Scottoli vs. Sam Kelly — bantamweight
• Dario Bellandi vs. Naglis Kanišauskas — middleweight
• Dumitru Girlean vs. Leon Hill — lightweight

Announced KSW fights:

KSW 84 — July 15

• Bartosz Leśko vs. Nemanja Nikolić — middleweight
• Cezariusz Kęsik vs. Damian Janikowski — middleweight
• Bruno Dos Santos vs. Gustavo Oliveira — bantamweight
• Damian Stasiak vs. Pascal Hintzen — featherweight