Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
Can you believe we survived a month-long break and were welcomed back with a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate in the first UFC event of the year? Seriously, Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze was one hell of a contest, but we are in for some absolute bangers over the next couple of months. This week, the UFC either announced or finalized 28 fights, and the featherweight champion has received a new opponent for his next title defense.
Alexander Volkanovski was originally scheduled to complete the trilogy with Max Holloway, but an injury suffered by ‘Blessed’ led to that being canceled. Now, the ‘Great’ has agreed to meet another worthy contender in Chan Sung Jung (better known as ‘The Korean Zombie’) at UFC 273 in April. Volkanovski just defended his title for the second time, besting Brian Ortega in a ‘Fight of the Night’ awarded performance at UFC 266 this past September. Following a defeat to Ortega, TKZ rebounded at UFC Vegas 29 with a unanimous decision over Dan Ige.
Also confirmed was a highly anticipated fight between former friends turned foes in Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. Covington and Masvidal were recently defeated by current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 261 and UFC 268, respectively. This grudge match will serve as the headliner of UFC 272, set to take place on March 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
UFC 270 — January 22
Michel Pereira vs. Andre Fialho — welterweight
Silvana Gómez Juaréz vs. Vanessa Demopoulos — women’s flyweight
Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Jourdain — featherweight
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Pete Rodriguez — welterweight
UFC 271 — February 12
Andrei Arlovski vs. Jared Vanderaa — heavyweight
UFC Fight Night — February 19
Joaquin Buckley vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan — middleweight
UFC Fight Night — February 26
Jonny Parsons vs. Michael Gillmore — welterweight
Josiane Nunes vs. Wu Yanan — women’s bantamweight
Priscila Cachoeira vs. Ji Yeon Kim — women’s flyweight
UFC 272 — March 5
Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal — welterweight
Alex Oliveira vs. Kevin Holland — welterweight
Devonte Smith vs. Erick Gonzalez — lightweight
UFC Fight Night — March 19
Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento — flyweight
UFC Fight Night — March 26
Nate Landwehr vs. Lerone Murphy — featherweight
Joanne Wood vs. Alexa Grasso — women’s flyweight
David Dvorak vs. Matheus Nicolau — flyweight
Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov — middleweight
UFC 273 — April 9
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chan Sung Jung — featherweight
Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan — bantamweight
Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres — women’s strawweight
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov — middleweight
Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos — bantamweight
UFC Fight Night — April 16
Drakkar Klose vs. Brandon Jenkins — lightweight
UFC Fight Night — April 23
Louis Cosce vs. Preston Parsons — welterweight
Aoriqileng vs. Cameron Else — flyweight
Clay Guida vs. Claudio Puelles — lightweight
Dean Barry vs. Mike Jackson — welterweight
UFC Fight Night — May 14
Lauren Murphy vs. Miesha Tate — women’s flyweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 134 — March 18
James Hendin vs. Steve Aimable — featherweight
Tobias Harila vs. Jeremy Petley — featherweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 67 — February 26
Phil de Fries vs. Darko Stosic — heavyweight
