another year UFC As fans predicted, the action is upon us. Conor McGregor‘s long-awaited return to the Octagon and some big championship fights.
McGregor, who remains the face of the sport, hasn’t competed since breaking his leg in July 2021. will fight Michael Chandler this fallbut new stars have popped up elsewhere to help keep audiences engaged.
Lightweight champion in one of the biggest fights of 2023 Islam Makhachev defended his title against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovsky, narrowly win a decision on the latter’s home court in Australia in February. Then, in March, the light-heavyweight ‘GOAT’ Jon Jones He moved to heavyweight after a three-year hiatus, sends Ciryl Gane in the first round to win the title He was vacated by Francis Ngannou in January when the latter left the UFC.
In late March, Britain’s Leon Edwards retained the heavyweight belt with a decisive win seven months after taking the title from “Nigerian Nightmare” in London with a stunning header from Kamaru Usman. April started later Israel Adesanya finally defeated his longtime rival, 33-year-old Brazilian Alex Pereira. To regain the middleweight belt he lost to Pereira in November.
There are many more championship fights to come, starting with Henry Cejudo’s return after a long hiatus to challenge Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight belt in May. Every fight and event announced by the mixed martial arts promotion for the coming weeks and months is here. (cards may vary):
Saturday, May 20 – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, USA
Mackenzie Dern celebrates submission victory over Hannah Cifers
(Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
main board
Mackenzie Dern vs Angela Hill (women’s strawweight)
Edmen Shahbazyan vs Anthony Hernandez (middleweight)
Emily Ducote vs Polyana Viana (women’s strawweight)
Andre Fialho vs Joaquin Buckley (heavyweight)
Mahesheat vs Viacheslav Borshchev (lightweight)
Diego Ferreira vs Michael Johnson (lightweight)
preliminary rounds
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Vanessa Demopoulos (women’s strawweight)
Orion Cosce vs Gilbert Urbina (heavyweight)
Ilir Latifi vs Rodrigo Nascimento (heavyweight)
Chase Hooper vs Nick Fiore (light)
Natalia Silva vs Victoria Leonardo (women’s welterweight)
Takashi Sato vs Themba Gorimbo (heavyweight)
Saturday, June 3 – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, USA
Kai Kara-France vs Amir Albazi (flyweight)
Miesha Tate vs Mayra Bueno Silva (women’s bantamweight)
Saturday, June 10 – UFC 289 – Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada
Amanda Nunes (right) and Julianna Pena were ready to complete their trilogy, but Julianna Pena broke her ribs
(Getty Images)
Amanda Nunes (c) vs Irene Aldana (women’s bantamweight title)
Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush (lightweight)
Nassourdine Imavov vs Chris Curtis (middleweight)
Saturday, June 17 – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, USA
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier (middleweight)
Saturday, June 24 – UFC Fight Night – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, USA
Josh Emmett vs Ilia Topuria (featherweight)
Saturday, July 1 – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, USA
Sean Strickland vs Abus Magomedov (middleweight)
Saturday, July 8 – UFC 290 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, USA
Two-time UFC lightweight champion Brandon Moreno
(Getty Images)
Alexander Volkanovski (current) vs Yair Rodriguez (IC) (featherweight title)
Brandon Moreno (c) vs Alexandre Pantoja (flyweight title)
Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight)
Jalin Turner vs Dan Hooker (light)
Robbie Lawler vs Niko Price (heavyweight)
Saturday, July 22 – UFC Fight Night – O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
Tom Aspinall suffered an injury in July 2022 and returned almost a year later (Adam Davy/PA)
(PA Wire)
Tom Aspinall vs Marcin Tybura (heavyweight)
Molly McCann vs Julija Stoliarenko (women’s welterweight)
Nathaniel Wood vs Andre Fili (featherweight)
Jai Herbert vs Fares Ziam (light)
Lerone Murphy vs Josh Culibao (featherweight)
Ketlen Vieira vs Pannie Kianzad (women’s bantamweight)
Marc Diakiese vs Joel Alvarez (lightweight)
Davey Grant vs Daniel Marcos ( bantamweight)
Saturday, July 29 – UFC 291 – Vivint Arena, Utah, USA
Former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier
(Getty Images)
Dustin Poirier vs Justin Gaethje (light – empty ‘BMF’ header)
Jan Blachowicz vs Alex Pereira (light-heavy)
Paulo Costa vs Ikram Aliskerov (middleweight)
Tony Ferguson vs Bobby Green (lightweight)
Michael Chiesa vs Kevin Holland (heavyweight)
Saturday, August 19 – UFC 292 – TD Garden, Boston, USA
Aljamain Sterling (C) vs Sean O’Malley (welterweight title)
Zhang Weili (current) vs Amanda Lemos (women’s strawweight champion)
Saturday, October 21 – UFC 294 – Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, UAE
TBA vs. TBA
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