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 3 June – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Main card
Kai Kara-France vs Amir Albazi (flyweight)
Alex Caceres vs Daniel Pineda (featherweight)
Jim Miller vs Ludovit Klein (lightweight)
Tim Elliott vs Victor Altamirano (flyweight)
Karine Silva vs Ketlen Souza (women’s flyweight)
Jamie Mullarkey vs Guram Kutateladze (lightweight)
Prelims
Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs Elizeu dos Santos (welterweight)
John Castaneda vs Mateus Mendonca (bantamweight)
Andrei Arlovski vs Don’Tale Mayes (heavyweight)
Daniel Santos vs Johnny Munoz (bantamweight)
Elise Reed vs Jinh Yu Frey (women’s strawweight)
Da’mon Blackshear vs Luan Lacerda (bantamweight)
Philipe Lins vs Maxim Grishin (light-heavyweight)
Saturday 10 June – UFC 289 – Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada
Main card
Amanda Nunes (C) vs Irene Aldana (women’s bantamweight title)
Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush (lightweight)
Nassourdine Imavov vs Chris Curtis (middleweight)
Dan Ige vs Nate Landwehr (featherweight)
Khalil Rountree Jr vs Chris Daukaus (light-heavyweight)
Prelims
Mike Malott vs Adam Fugitt (welterweight)
Marc-Andre Barriault vs Eryk Anders (middleweight)
Matt Schnell vs David Dvorak (flyweight)
Early prelims
Aiemann Zahabi vs Aoriqileng (bantamweight)
Kyle Nelson vs Blake Bildler (featherweight)
Diane Belbita vs Maria Oliveira (women’s strawweight)
Miranda Maverick vs Jasmine Jasudavicius (women’s flyweight)
Saturday 17 June – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier (middleweight)
Nicolas Dalby vs Muslim Salikhov (welterweight)
Kyung Ho Kang vs Cristian Quinonez (bantamweight)
Saturday 24 June – UFC Fight Night – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, US
Josh Emmett vs Ilia Topuria (featherweight)
Amanda Ribas vs Maycee Barber (women’s flyweight)
Punahele Soriano vs Sedriques Dumas (middleweight)
Gregory Rodrigues vs Denis Tiuliulin (middleweight)
Brendan Allen vs Bruno Silva (middleweight)
Neil Magny vs Phil Rowe (welterweight)
Austen Lane vs Justin Tafa (heavyweight)
Davis Onama vs Gabriel Santos (featherweight)
Randy Brown vs Wellington Turman (welterweight)
Mateusz Rebecki vs Loik Radzhabov (lightweight)
Tabatha Ricci vs Gillian Robertson (women’s strawweight)
Tatsuro Taira vs Kleydson Rodrigues (flyweight)
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
Main card
Alexander Volkanovski (C) vs Yair Rodriguez (IC) (featherweight title)
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)
Sean Brady vs Jack Della Maddalena (welterweight)
Prelims
Bo Nickal vs Tresean Gore (middleweight)
Jimmy Crute vs Alonzo Menifield (light-heavyweight)
Yazmin Jauregui vs Denise Gomes (women’s strawweight)
Shannon Ross vs Jesus Aguilar (flyweight)
Vitor Petrino vs Marcin Prachnio (light-heavyweight)
Kamuela Kirk vs Esteban Ribovics (lightweight)
Christian Rodriguez vs Cameron Saaiman (bantamweight)
Saturday 15 July – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Holly Holm vs Mayra Bueno Silva (women’s bantamweight)
Saturday 22 July – UFC Fight Night – O2 Arena, London, UK
Tom Aspinall vs Marcin Tybura (heavyweight)
Molly McCann vs Julija Stoliarenko (women’s flyweight)
Nathaniel Wood vs Andre Fili (featherweight)
Jai Herbert vs Fares Ziam (lightweight)
Lerone Murphy vs Josh Culibao (featherweight)
Ketlen Vieira vs Pannie Kianzad (women’s bantamweight)
Marc Diakiese vs Joel Alvarez (lightweight)
Davey Grant vs Daniel Marcos (bantamweight)
Chris Duncan vs Yanal Ashmouz (lightweight)
Danny Roberts vs Jonny Parsons (welterweight)
Saturday 29 July – UFC 291 – Vivint Arena, Utah, US
Dustin Poirier vs Justin Gaethje (lightweight – vacant ‘BMF’ title)
Jan Blachowicz vs Alex Pereira (light-heavyweight)
Tony Ferguson vs Bobby Green (lightweight)
Paulo Costa vs Ikram Aliskerov (middleweight)
Stephen Thompson vs Michel Pereira (welterweight)
Michael Chiesa vs Kevin Holland (welterweight)
Derrick Lewis vs Marcos Rogerio de Lima (heavyweight)
Saturday 19 August – UFC 292 – TD Garden, Boston, US
Aljamain Sterling (C) vs Sean O’Malley (bantamweight title)
Zhang Weili (C) vs Amanda Lemos (women’s strawweight title)
Sunday 10 September – UFC 293 – TBA, Sydney, Australia
TBA vs TBA
Saturday 21 October – UFC 294 – Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, UAE
TBA vs TBA
