Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
Thanks to Cage Warriors and GLORY, we were busy with some great fights on Friday and Saturday. Michele Martignoni dethroned ex-bantamweight champion Dominique Wooding in a close, back-and-forth affair at Cage Warriors 144, while Alistair Overeem closed the Badr Hari chapter of his career with a unanimous decision win at GLORY: Collision 4. The ‘Reem’ even set up a fight against Rico Verhoeven after the victory! With those events now in the books, we can look at what lies ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.
The UFC either announced or finalized 18 fights this week, and the first-ever tetralogy in the promotion is happening.
Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno are set for their fourth (and potentially final) fight at UFC 283, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for Jan. 21, 2023, at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Figueiredo and Moreno fought to a majority draw in their first outing at UFC 256 nearly two years ago. ‘Deus Da Guerra’ was deducted a point in the third round for a groin strike, which evened up two of three judges’ scorecards. Because of the ending, the promotion scheduled an immediate rematch at UFC 263, where the ‘Assassin Baby’ submitted Figueiredo via third-round rear-naked choke to become the new UFC flyweight champion. A few months later, the pair would share the Octagon once again. Figueiredo reclaimed his championship with a unanimous decision win over Moreno at UFC 270 this past January.
Now 1-1-1, Figueiredo and Moreno were expected to compete in the first-ever tetralogy earlier this year. However, that was delayed after the champion suffered injuries in both hands and and had to be sidelined for several months. In an effort to keep the flyweight division moving, an interim championship fight between Moreno and Kai Kara-France was scheduled. The ex-champion finished Kara-France by third-round TKO, setting up what could be his final meeting with Figueiredo at the beginning of 2023.
UFC Fight Night — October 15
Joanderson Sá Brito vs. Lucas Alexander — featherweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
UFC Fight Night — October 29
Drakkar Klose vs. Mark O. Madsen — lightweight
First rep. by Vegas Insider
UFC Fight Night — November 5
Chase Sherman vs. Josh Parisian — heavyweight
First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Daniel Rodriguez vs. Neil Magny — welterweight
Rodriguez vs. Magny was already finalized, but shifted from UFC Vegas 62 to UFC Vegas 64, per the UFC
Jailton Almeida vs. Maxim Grishin — catchweight (220 lbs.)
First rep. by Laerte Viana of Super Lutas
UFC 281 — November 12
Frankie Edgar vs. Chris Gutierrez — bantamweight
First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN
UFC Orlando — December 3
Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland — welterweight
Yazmin Jauregui vs. Istela Nunes — women’s strawweight
First rep. by Mike Heck and Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting
Rafel dos Anjos vs. Bryan Barberena — welterweight
First rep. by Raphael Marinho of Combate
UFC 282 — December 10
Ronnie Lawrence vs. Cameron Saaiman — bantamweight
First rep. by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting
UFC Fight Night — December 17
Hayishaer Maheshate vs. Rafa García — lightweight
First rep. by Bloodline Combat Sports Agency
Cheyanne Vlismas vs. Cory McKenna — women’s strawweight
First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov — bantamweight
First rep. by Red Fury MMA
UFC Fight Night — January 14
Carlos Hernandez vs. Allan Nascimento — flyweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes
Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov — welterweight
First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN
UFC 283 — January 21
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno — flyweight
First rep. by Rodrigo Del Campo González of Claro Sports
Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua vs. Ihor Potieria — light heavyweight
First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania
Johnny Walker vs. Paul Craig — light heavyweight
First rep. by Gaspar Bruno of Ag Fight
Table of Contents
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 288 — November 18
Daniel Weichel vs. Akhmed Magomedov — featherweight
Tyrell Fortune vs. Daniel James — heavyweight
Roman Faraldo vs. Levan Chokheli — welterweight
Jaylon Bates vs. Jornel Lugo — bantamweight
Lucas Brennan vs. Nick Talavera — featherweight
Archie Colgan vs. Jesse Hannam — lightweight
Isaiah Hokit vs. Matias Nader — featherweight
Otto Rodrigues vs. Khasan Askhabov — featherweight
Jordan Newman vs. Jayden Taulker — middleweight
Imamshafi Aliev vs. Sean Fallon — middleweight
Vlad Gouvea vs. Kory Moegenburg — heavyweight
Announced Cage Warriors fights:
Cage Warriors 145 — November 5
Daniel Skibiński vs. Oban Elliot — welterweight
Cage Warriors 146 — November 12
Luke Riley vs. Karol Kutyła — featherweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 77 — December 17
Mamed Khalidov vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski — heavyweight
Sebastian Przybysz vs. Jakub Wikłacz — bantamweight