Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
Fight week is here, ladies and gentlemen! Rate your excitement on a scale of one to ten in the comments.
The UFC has either announced or finalized 17 fights this week, and a bantamweight championship rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan has been set. Again.
Sterling and Yan were supposed to meet on Fight Island last year, but the champion was unable to receive medical clearance to compete after neck issues from surgery were still plaguing him. An interim championship was created, and Yan fought a short-notice replacement in Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267, where he defeated the No. 4 ranked contender via unanimous decision. Now, the title unification has been added to UFC 272, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for March 5 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
A pair of heavyweight contests were also confirmed. Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa (!) are throwing down at UFC 271, while Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Marcin Tybura share the Octagon two weeks later at a UFC Fight Night event.
Bellator rounded out its upcoming schedule with several fights, including a welterweight clash between Andrey Koreshkov and Mukhamed Berkamov as the co-main event of Bellator 274.
UFC Fight Night — February 5
Tim Means vs. Jeremiah Wells — welterweight
UFC 271 — February 12
Derrick Lewis vs. Tai Tuivasa — heavyweight
Bobby Green vs. Nasrat Haqparast — lightweight
UFC Fight Night — February 19
Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev — lightweight
Jamahal Hill vs. Johnny Walker — light heavyweight
Jim MIller vs. Nikolas Motta — lightweight
UFC Fight Night — February 26
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura — heavyweight
UFC 272 — March 5
Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan — bantamweight
Jalin Turner vs. Jamie Mullarkey — lightweight
UFC Fight Night — March 12
Alex Caceres vs. Sodiq Yusuff — featherweight
Drew Dober vs. Ricky Glenn — lightweight
Tafon Nchukwi vs. Azamat Murzakanov — light heavyweight
JJ Aldrich vs. Ariane Lipski — women’s flyweight
UFC Fight Night — March 19
Cory McKenna vs. Elise Reed — strawweight
UFC Fight Night — March 26
Matt Brown vs. Bryan Barberena — welterweight
Montel Jackson vs. Batgerel Danaa — bantamweight
UFC 273 — April 9
Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott — welterweight
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 273 — January 29
Lucas Brennan vs. Benjamin Lugo — featherweight
Weber Almeida vs. Josh Wright — featherweight
Nikita Mikhailov vs. Blaine Shutt — bantamweight
Bellator 274 — February 19
Andrey Koreshkov vs. Mukhamed Berkamov — welterweight
Veta Arteaga vs. Keri Taylor Melendez — women’s flyweight
Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Adam Piccolotti — lightweight
Mandel Nallo vs. Nick Browne — lightweight
Jaylon Bates vs. Chris Disonell — bantamweight
Corey Samuels vs. Justin Montalvo — lightweight
Isaiah Hokit vs. Albert Birckhead — featherweight
Bellator Dublin — February 25
Brian Moore vs. Jornel Lugo — bantamweight
Brett Johns vs. Khurshed Kakhorov — bantamweight
Ciaran Clarke vs. Abou Tounkara — featherweight
Fabian Edwards vs. Marian Dimitrov — middleweight
Danni McCormack vs. Stephanie Page — women’s strawweight
Stefano Paterno vs. Luco Poclit — welterweight
Scott Pedersen vs. Nathan Kelly — featherweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 66 — January 15
Hubert Szymajda vs. Kacper Koziorębski — welterweight
Michal Materla vs. Jason Radcliffe — middleweight
Gracjan Szadzinski vs. Francesco Moricca — lightweight
Announced Invicta FC fights:
Invicta FC 45 — January 12
Ramona Pascual vs. Shamir Peshewa catchweight (150 lbs.)
Katie Saull vs. Tamika Jones — women’s atomweight
