Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
UFC 285 is here, folks. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones returns against Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight championship. Reigning flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko goes for her eighth defense versus Alexa Grasso. And a bevy of up-and-coming fighters such as Bo Nickal, Cameron Saaiman and Farid Basharat are set for appearances. But before we get to that event, let’s take a look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.
The UFC either announced or finalized 17 fights this week, and a potential No. 1 contender at lightweight is set.
After successfully defending his title against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in February, Islam Makhachev had one question for the rest of the division: who is next? Well, the champion may not have to wait long for an answer. Following several reports from KOImenero and Club De Las MMA, former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira confirmed he would fight Beneil Dariush at UFC 288, the upcoming pay-per-view event set for May 6.
In his most recent appearance, ‘Do Bronx’ had an 11-fight win streak snapped by Makhachev, who submitted him via second-round arm-triangle choke at UFC 280 this past October. At the same event, Dariush extended his win streak to eight with a unanimous decision over Mateusz Gamrot.
This is the second time Oliveira vs. Dariush has been booked. The pair were expected to fight at UFC Fight Island 4 in 2020 before the Brazilian withdrew due to undisclosed reasons.
UFC 285 — March 4
- Loik Radzhabov vs. Esteban Ribovics — lightweight (First rep. by Igor Lazorin)
UFC Las Vegas — March 11
- Sedriques Dumas vs. Josh Fremd — middleweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
- Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann — light heavyweight (Krylov vs. Spann was already confirmed, but shifted from UFC Vegas 70 to UFC Las Vegas, per Igor Lazorin)
UFC 286 — March 18
- Gunnar Nelson vs. Bryan Barberena — welterweight
UFC Fight Night — April 22
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes — heavyweight (First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN)
UFC Fight Night — April 29
- Cody Brundage vs. Rodolfo Vieira — middleweight (Brundage vs. Vieira was already confirmed, but shifted from UFC Vegas 65 to UFC on ESPN+ 82, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
- Josh Quinlan vs. Ange Loosa — welterweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
- Polyana Viana vs. Emily Ducote — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Ag Fight)
UFC 288 — May 6
- Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush — lightweight (First rep. by KOImenero and Club De Las MMA)
- Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba — women’s strawweight (First rep. by MMA Melotto)
UFC Fight Night — May 13
- Jake Matthews vs. Gabe Green — welterweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Jailton Almeida — heavyweight (First rep. by Guilherme Cruz and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting)
- Ji Yeon Kim vs. Mandy Böhm — women’s flyweight (Kim vs. Böhm was already confirmed, but shifted from UFC Vegas 68 to UFC on ESPN+ 83, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
- Cody Stamann vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade — bantamweight (First rep. by Ag Fight)
UFC Fight Night — May 20
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Vanessa Demopoulos — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Meni Mayer of MMA Ideas)
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie)
- Ilir Latifi vs. Rodrigo Nascimento — heavyweight (First rep. by Danny Segura and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie)
- Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Anthony Hernandez — middleweight (First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN)
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Brunno Ferreira — middleweight (First rep. by Laerte Viana of Super Lutas)
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 293 — March 31
- Adam Piccolotti vs. Mandel Nallo — lightweight
Bellator 296 — May 12
- Mansour Barnaoui vs. Brent Primus — lightweight
Announced Professional Fighters League (PFL) fights:
PFL Newcastle (2023 Regular Season) — March 25
- Simeon Powell vs. Mohamed Amine — light heavyweight
- Dakota Ditcheva vs. Clara Ricignuolo — women’s flyweight
- Kenneth Bergh vs. Jakob Nedoh — light heavyweight
- Griet Eechkout vs. Mafalda Carmona — women’s flyweight
- Anthony Salamone vs. Daniel Ladero — light heavyweight
- Cornelia Holm vs. Marta Waliczek — women’s flyweight
- Lizzy Gevers vs. Valentina Scatizzi — women’s flyweight
- Lewis McGrillen vs. Sali Kulucan — bantamweight
- Louis Lee Scott vs. Sam Robinson — bantamweight
- Lewis Monarch vs. Oscar Ownsworth — lightweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 149 — March 3
- Damon Wilson vs. Shawn Johnson — featherweight
Cage Warriors 153 — April 29
- Leon Hill vs. Marcin Zembala — lightweight
- Alexander O’Sullivan vs. Tom Wright — bantamweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 80 — March 17
- Damian Piwowarczyk vs. Bartłomiej Gładkowicz — light heavyweight
