Another year of UFC action is upon us, as fans anticipate Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon as well as some major title fights.
McGregor, who remains the face of the sport, has not competed since breaking his leg in July 2021 but is due to fight Michael Chandler this autumn, though new stars have emerged elsewhere to help keep audiences engaged.
In one of the biggest fights of 2023, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev retained his title against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski, narrowly winning a decision on the latter’s home turf in Australia in February. Then, in March, light-heavyweight ‘GOAT’ Jon Jones moved up to heavyweight after three years away, submitting Ciryl Gane in the first round to win the title vacated by Francis Ngannou in January, when the latter left the UFC.
Later in March, Britain’s Leon Edwards retained the welterweight belt with a decision win over Kamaru Usman in London, seven months after taking the title from the “Nigerian Nightmare” with a stunning head kick. April then kicked off with Israel Adesanya finally beating long-time rival Alex Pereira, the 33-year-old knocking out the Brazilian to regain the middleweight belt that he lost to Pereira in November.
There are plenty more title fights to come, too, starting with Henry Cejudo’s return after a long absence to challenge Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight belt in May. Here is every fight and event announced by the mixed martial arts promotion for the coming weeks and months (cards subject to change):
Saturday 6 May – UFC 288 – Prudential Center, Newark, US
Main card
Aljamain Sterling (C) vs Henry Cejudo (bantamweight title)
Gilbert Burns vs Belal Muhammad (welterweight)
Jessica Andrade vs Yan Xiaonan (women’s strawweight)
Movsar Evloev vs Diego Lopes (featherweight)
Kron Gracie vs Charles Jourdain (featherweight)
Prelims
Drew Dober vs Matt Frevola (lightweight)
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Devin Clark (light-heavyweight)
Khaos Williams vs Rolando Bedoya (welterweight)
Marina Rodriguez vs Virna Jandiroba (women’s strawweight)
Early prelims
Braxton Smith vs Parker Porter (heavyweight)
Phil Hawes vs Ikram Aliskerov (middleweight)
Joseph Holmes vs Claudio Ribeiro (middleweight)
Saturday 13 May – UFC Fight Night – Spectrum Center, Charlotte, US
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Jailton Almeida (heavyweight)
Anthony Smith vs Johnny Walker (light-heavyweight)
Mackenzie Dern vs Angela Hill (women’s strawweight)
Ian Machado Garry vs Daniel Rodriguez (welterweight)
Karl Williams vs Chase Sherman (heavyweight)
Cody Stamann vs Douglas Silva De Andrade (bantamweight)
Tim Means vs Alex Morono (welterweight)
Bryan Battle vs Gabe Green (welterweight)
Matt Brown vs Court McGee (welterweight)
Jessica-Rose Clark vs Tainara Lisboa (women’s bantamweight)
Ji Yeon Kim vs Mandy Bohm (women’s flyweight)
Carlos Ulberg vs Ihor Potieria (light-heavyweight)
Saturday 3 June – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Kai Kara-France vs Amir Albazi (flyweight)
Saturday 10 June – UFC 289 – Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada
Amanda Nunes (C) vs Irene Aldana (women’s bantamweight title)
Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush (lightweight)
Nassourdine Imavov vs Chris Curtis (middleweight)
Saturday 17 June – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier (middleweight)
Saturday 24 June – UFC Fight Night – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, US
Josh Emmett vs Ilia Topuria (featherweight)
Saturday 1 July – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Sean Strickland vs Abus Magomedov (middleweight)
Saturday 8 July – UFC 290 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, US
Alexander Volkanovski (C) vs Yair Rodriguez (IC) (featherweight title) [TBC]
Brandon Moreno (C) vs Alexandre Pantoja (flyweight title)
Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight)
Jalin Turner vs Dan Hooker (lightweight)
Robbie Lawler vs Niko Price (welterweight)
Saturday 22 July – UFC Fight Night – O2 Arena, London, UK
TBA vs TBA
Saturday 21 October – UFC 294 – Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, UAE
TBA vs TBA
