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We are here with another edition of Fights on Tap for you! This is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
The UFC either announced or finalized 12 fights this week, and there are a few additions to a slew of Fight Nights.
We may not have a lot of fights here, but there are a couple that I am interested in seeing. First, we have Vitor Petrino vs. Tyson Pedro, which I see as a step up in competition for Petrino. So far, ‘Icao’ has had excellent performances with finishes of Marcin Prachnio and Modestas Bukauskas. If he can continue chopping down these opponents, especially another vet such as Pedro, then I see Petrino in the top 15 within a year.
Then, we have Cameron Saaiman vs. Payton Talbott. I thought these two up-and-coming talents would get a little further in their UFC careers before getting paired. That said, it is a fun fight. Saaiman has had more time to find his footing in the promotion, though, so I am curious to see how he bounces back from his first loss.
Announced UFC fights
UFC Vegas 86 — February 10
- Hyder Amil vs. Fernie Garcia — featherweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
- Ihor Potieria vs. Robert Bryczek — middleweight (First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
UFC Vegas 87 — March 2
- Vitor Petrino vs. Tyson Pedro — light heavyweight (First rep. by Diego Ribas of Ag. Fight)
- Matt Schnell vs. Steve Erceg — flyweight
UFC Vegas 89 — March 23
- Mohammed Usman vs. Mick Parkin — heavyweight
- Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Dusko Todorovic — middleweight
- Junior Tafa vs. Karl Williams — heavyweight
- Cameron Saaiman vs. Payton Talbott — bantamweight (First rep. by Damon Martin and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)
UFC Vegas 90 — April 6
- Trevor Peek vs. Charlie Campbell — lightweight (First rep. by The Peek Nation Podcast)
UFC Fight Night — April 27
- Jhonata Diniz vs. Austen Lane — heavyweight (First rep. by All In Sports Management)
UFC 301 — May 4
- Alessandro Costa vs. Kevin Borjas — flyweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)
- Paul Craig vs. Caio Borralho — middleweight (First rep. by Diego Ribas of Ag. Fight)
Announced Professional Fighters League (PFL) fights
PFL Paris — March 7
- Abdoul Adbouraguimov vs. Jack Grant — welterweight
- Patrick Habirora vs. Claudio Pacella — lightweight
If you go to Paris, you need some Parisian superstars, so good on PFL for getting Abdoul Adbouraguimov scheduled for its return. The ‘Lazy King’ is no stranger to a highlight reel, so I am excited to see how he fares in his second PFL appearance.
Announced Cage Warriors fights
Cage Warriors 166 — February 23
- Miguel Peimbert vs. Carlos Elizarraraz —bantamweight
Cage Warriors 168 — March 16
- Tom Wright vs. Orion Lombardi — bantamweight
Cage Warriors 169 — March 30
- Tom Creasey vs. Amir Malekpour — flyweight
- Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Shawn Da Silva — flyweight
Cage Warriors 170 — April 6
- Francesco Mazzeo vs. Jordan O’Neill — middleweight
- Decky McAleenan vs. Villie Mankinen — featherweight
- Taka Mhandu vs. Rory Evans — bantamweight
Cage Warriors 171 — April 20
- Reese McEwan vs. Cameron Else — bantamweight
I hope you are familiar with Lone’er Kavanagh because he is a top-tier talent. He is fun, fast and explosive, and every time he comes into the Cage Warriors cage, he shines (watch his finishes of Ryan Morgan and Davide Scarano to see what he can do). This fight against Shawn Marcos Da Silva is in the ‘fun for as long as it lasts’ category, so I can’t wait to see it.
Announced KSW fights
KSW Epic — February 24
- Rafał Haratyk vs. Marcin Wójcik — light heavyweight
- Kleber Raimundo Silva vs. Damian Piwowarczyk — light heavyweight
- Phil De Fries vs. Josh Barnett — openweight
We need to fast forward to Feb. 24 because this Epic event from KSW is…epic. Sorry, I had to. Anyway, Phil De Fries vs. Josh Barnett in Submission Grappling is yet another cherry on top of these recent additions. I have no idea what else KSW has in store for us, but I have a simple request: More please!