Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
One of the biggest pay-per-view events of 2022 is going down on Saturday! UFC 281 features Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira, Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili and Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler. There are also some sleeper fights like Brad Riddell vs. Renato Moicano and Julio Arce vs. Montel Jackson, so we are in for a real treat this weekend. But before we can get to that event, how about we look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule?
The UFC either announced or finalized 21 fights this week, and two all-action featherweights are confirmed for the final UFC event of the year.
Alex Caceres is gearing up for his second UFC appearance in 2022. ‘Bruce Leeroy’ returns against Julian Erosa at an upcoming UFC Fight Night scheduled for Dec. 17 at the UFC APEX.
The former Ultimate Fighter competitor recently saw a five-fight win streak snap after he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Sodiq Yusuff at UFC Vegas 50 in March. His next opponent, Erosa, has done better in his third run with the UFC. Since he rejoined the promotion, ‘Juicy J’ has gone 5-1. His most recent win — a unanimous decision over Hakeem Dawodu at UFC 279 — saw him extend his win streak to three straight.
UFC Fight Night — November 19
Miles Johhs vs. Vince Morales — bantamweight
First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania
UFC Fight Night — December 17
Alex Caceres vs. Julian Erosa — featherweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
Tafon Nchukwi vs. Vitor Petrino — light heavyweight
First rep. by Raphael Marinho of Combate
UFC Fight Night — January 14
David Onama vs. Jarno Errens — featherweight
First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland
Dan Argueta vs. Isaac Dulgarian — featherweight
First rep. by Mathias Meade
Omar Morales vs. Mateusz Rębecki — lightweight
First rep. by Rębecki on Twitter
UFC 283 — January 21
Ismael Bonfim vs. Terrance McKinney — lightweight
First rep. by Damon Martin and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting
Jailton Almeida vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov — heavyweight
First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland
Thiago Moisés vs. Guram Kutateladze — lightweight
First rep. by Carlos Antunes of Canal Encarada
UFC Seoul — February 4
Yusaku Kinoshita vs. Adam Fugitt — welterweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Tatsuro Taira vs. Jesús Santos Aguilar — flyweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
Loma Lookboonmee vs. Elise Reed — women’s strawweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
UFC 284 — February 11
Tyson Pedro vs. Mingyang Zhang — light heavyweight
First rep. by Chris Presnell
Jack Jenkins vs. Don Shainis — featherweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
Justin Tafa vs. Parker Porter — heavyweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Joshua Culibao vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan — featherweight
First rep. by Jamie Pandaram of The Daily Telegraph
UFC Fight Night — February 18
Themba Gorimbo vs. Billy Goff — welterweight
First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency
Nazim Sadykhov vs. Evan Elder — lightweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Benoît Saint-Denis vs. Joe Solecki — lightweight
First rep. by Guillaume Peltier
Juancamilo Ronderos vs. Clayton Carpenter — flyweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov — middleweight
First rep. by UFD Gym
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 288 — November 18
Timur Khizriev vs. Daniel Weichel — featherweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Sullivan Cauley vs. Jay Radick — light heavyweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Killys Mota vs. Jairo Pacheco — lightweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Laird Anderson vs. Rob Fenicle — featherweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 146 — November 12
Reece McEwan vs. Teodoro Scolieri — bantamweight
Samuel Bark vs. Manny Akpan — featherweight
Announced Invicta FC fights:
Invicta FC 50 — November 16
Maíra Mazar vs. Danni McCormack — women’s strawweight
Katharina Lehner vs. Talita Bernardo — women’s bantamweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 78 — January 28
Artur Szpilka vs. Arkadiusz Wrzosek — heavyweight