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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 21 fights this week, and a championship rematch is confirmed.
We saw an ‘Upset of the Year’ contender at UFC 285 this past March when Alexa Grasso dethroned Valentina Shevchenko. In the fourth round of their fight, Grasso got a hold of the ‘Bullet’ (after an ill-advised spinning kick) and squeezed her face until the ex-champion was forced to tap. Considering how dominant she was during her reign, Shevchenko requested an immediate rematch with Grasso — and she got it.
A month after UFC president Dana White revealed the promotion was ironing out the details, the rematch was signed, sealed and delivered. Initially reported by MMA LatinoAmérica and then confirmed by the Schmo, Grasso vs. Shevchenko II will happen at an upcoming UFC event scheduled for Sat., Sept. 16, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After debuting at flyweight, the Mexican fighter rattled off four consecutive wins, which led to her first UFC championship opportunity against Shevchenko. At the time, the Kyrgyzstani had defeated all of her challengers including Jéssica Andrade, Lauren Murphy and Taila Santos.
Announced UFC fights:
UFC Vegas 76 — July 1
- Brunno Ferreira vs. Nursulton Ruziboev — middleweight (First rep. by Laerte Viana on Twitter)
UFC 290 — July 8
- Cameron Saaiman vs. Terrence Mitchell — bantamweight (First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
- Joanderson Sá Brito vs. Westin Wilson — featherweight (First rep. by The MMA Matchmaker on Instagram)
UFC Nashville — August 5
- Jéssica Andrade vs. Tatiana Suarez — women’s strawweight
- Jeremiah Wells vs. Carlston Harris — welterweight
- Gavin Tucker vs. Diego Lopes — featherweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
UFC Vegas 78 — August 12
- Brady Hiestand vs. Da’Mon Blackshear — bantamweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
UFC 292 — August 19
- Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera — bantamweight (First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN)
- Rob Font vs. Song Yadong — bantamweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
UFC Singapore — August 26
- Chidi Njokuani vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk — middleweight
- Liang Na vs. JJ Aldrich — women’s flyweight
- Taila Santos vs. Erin Blanchfield — women’s flyweight (First rep. by Freak.MMA on Instagram)
- Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann — light heavyweight (First rep. by Mike Bohn and Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
UFC Paris — September 2
- Nora Cornolle vs. Joselyne Edwards — women’s bantamweight
- Zarah Fairn vs. Hailey Cowan — women’s bantamweight
- Volkan Oezdemir vs. Azamat Murzakanov — light heavyweight
- Manon Fiorot vs. Rose Namajunas — women’s flyweight (First rep. by Farah Hannoun and Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
UFC 293 — September 9
- Kai Kara-France vs. Manel Kape — flyweight (First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN)
UFC Fight Night — September 16
- Chris Curtis vs. Anthony Hernandez — middleweight (First rep. by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)
- Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko — women’s flyweight (First rep. by MMA LatinoAmérica on Twitter and then confirmed by The Schmo)
UFC Vegas 79 — September 23
- Mizuki Inoue vs. Hannah Goldy — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 298 — August 11
- Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov — bantamweight
- Diana Avsaragova vs. Justine Kish — women’s flyweight
- Dayana Silva vs. Katerina Shakalova — women’s featherweight
- Max Rohskopf vs. Jario Pacheco — lightweight
- Jerrell Hodge vs. Marcirley Alves da Silva — bantamweight
Announced Professional Fighters League (PFL) fights:
PFL Playoffs 3 — August 23
- Clay Collard vs. Shane Burgos — lightweight
- Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Bruno Miranda — lightweight
- Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Magomed Umalatov — welterweight
- Carlos Leal vs. Sadibou Sy — welterweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 156 — July 1
- Milad Shady vs. Marcondes Bastos — featherweight
Cage Warriors 157 — July 21
- Tom Creasey vs. Ander Sanchez — flyweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 84 — July 15
- Borys Dzikowski vs. Damian Mieczkowski — middleweight
- Krystian Kaszubowski vs. Henry Fadipe — welterweight
- Patryk Chrobak vs. Miłosz Melchert — bantamweight
KSW 85 — August 19
- Salahdine Parnasse vs. Robert Ruchała — featherweight
- Patryk Kaczmarczyk vs. Danu Tărchilă — featherweight
- Patryk Surdyn vs. Kamil Szkaradek — bantamweight
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