UFC 2023 schedule: Every major fight happening this year
Another year of UFC action is upon us as fans await Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon as well as some big title fights.
McGregor, who is still the face of the sport, has not competed since breaking his leg in July 2021 but will face Michael Chandler this autumn, although new stars have emerged elsewhere to keep crowds happy.
In one of the biggest fights of 2023, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev defended his title against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski, narrowly winning a decision in February at his home stadium in Australia. Then in March, light heavyweight “GOAT” Jon Jones moved up to heavyweight after a three-year absence, defeating Ciryl Gane in the first round to win the title Francis Ngannou lost in January when he 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 clinching the title from Nigerian Nightmare with a stunning headbutt. April then kicked off with Israel Adesanya finally beating his longtime rival Alex Pereira. The 33-year-old knocked out the Brazilian and regained the middleweight belt he lost to Pereira in November.
There are also many more title fights to come. Here are all the fights and events announced by the mixed martial arts promotion for the coming weeks and months (Subject to map changes)
Saturday, July 1 – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, USA
Sean Strickland convinces some fans and angers others with controversial comments
(Getty Images)
main card
Sean Strickland vs. Abus Magomedov (middleweight)
Damir Ismagulov vs. Grant Dawson (Lightweight)
Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales (welterweight)
Ariane Lipski vs. Melissa Gatto (Women’s Flyweight)
Ismael Bonfim vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (Lightweight)
Brunno Ferreira vs. Nursulton Ruziboev (middleweight)
front matter
Kevin Lee vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov (Welterweight)
Joanderson Brito vs. Westin Wilson (Featherweight)
Yana Santos vs. Karol Rosa (Women’s Bantamweight)
Guram Kutateladze vs. Elves Brener (Lightweight)
Ivana Petrovic vs. Luana Carolina (Women’s Flyweight)
Alexandr Romanov vs. Blagoy Ivanov (Heavyweight)
Saturday, July 8 – UFC 290 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, USA
UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski
(Getty Images)
main card
Alexander Volkanovski (center) vs. Yair Rodriguez (IC) (Featherweight Title)
Brandon Moreno (center) vs Alexandre Pantoja (flyweight title)
Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight)
Jalin Turner vs. Dan Hooker (Lightweight)
Bo Nickal vs. Tresean Gore (middleweight)
front matter
Robbie Lawler vs. Niko Price (welterweight)
Sean Brady vs Jack Della Maddalena (Welterweight)
Yazmin Jauregui vs. Denise Gomes (Women’s Strawweight)
Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield (Light Heavyweight)
Early preliminary rounds
Vitor Petrino vs. Marcin Prachnio (Light Heavyweight)
Christian Rodriguez vs. Cameron Saaiman (Bantamweight)
Shannon Ross vs. Jesus Aguilar (Flyweight)
Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics (Lightweight)
Saturday, July 15 – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, USA
Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm
(Getty Images)
Holly Holm vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (Women’s Bantamweight)
Albert Duraev vs. Junyong Park (middleweight)
Norma Dumont vs. Chelsea Chandler (Women’s Featherweight)
Victoria Dudakova vs. Istela Nunes (Women’s Strawweight)
Austin Lingo vs. Melquizael Costa (Featherweight)
Jafel Filho vs. Juancamilo Ronderos (Flyweight)
Saturday 22nd July – UFC Fight Night – O2 Arena, London, UK
Tom Aspinall suffered an injury in July 2022 and is returning a year later almost to the day (Adam Davy/PA)
(PA cable)
main card
Tom Aspinall vs Marcin Tybura (Heavyweight)
Molly McCann vs Julija Stoliarenko (Women’s Flyweight)
Nathaniel Wood vs. Andre Fili (Featherweight)
Paul Craig vs. Andre Muniz (middleweight)
Jai Herbert vs. Fares Ziam (Lightweight)
Lerone Murphy vs. Josh Culibao (Featherweight)
front matter
Davey Grant vs. Daniel Marcos (Bantamweight)
Danny Roberts vs. Jonny Parsons (Welterweight)
Marc Diakiese vs. Joel Alvarez (Lightweight)
Mick Parkin vs. Jamal Pogues (Heavyweight)
Makhmud Muradov vs. Bryan Barberena (middleweight)
Ketlen Vieira vs. Pannie Kianzad (Women’s Bantamweight)
Chris Duncan vs. Yanal Ashmouz (Lightweight)
Shauna Bannon vs. Bruna Brasil (Women’s Strawweight)
Saturday, July 29 – UFC 291 – Vivint Arena, Utah, USA
Former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier
(Getty Images)
Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje 2 (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)
Derrick Lewis vs Marcos Rogerio de Lima (Heavyweight)
Michael Chiesa vs. Kevin Holland (welterweight)
Matthew Semelsberger vs. Yohan Lainesse (welterweight)
Roman Kopylov vs. Claudio Ribeiro (middleweight)
CJ Vergara vs. Vinicius Salvador (Flyweight)
Trevin Giles vs. Gabriel Bonfim (welterweight)
Joanne Wood vs. Priscila Cachoeira (Women’s Flyweight)
Saturday, August 5 – UFC Fight Night – Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, USA
Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Cory Sandhagen
(Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov (Bantamweight)
Saturday, August 12 – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, USA
Vicente Luque vs. Rafael dos Anjos (welterweight)
Khalil Rountree Jr vs. Chris Daukaus (Light Heavyweight)
Saturday, August 19 – UFC 292 – TD Garden, Boston, USA
Aljamain Sterling defends his UFC bantamweight belt again
(Getty Images)
Aljamain Sterling (C) vs. Sean O’Malley (Bantamweight Title)
Zhang Weili (center) vs. Amanda Lemos (women’s strawweight title)
Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry (Welterweight)
Cody Garbrandt vs. Mario Bautista (Bantamweight)
Chris Weidman vs. Brad Tavares (middleweight)
Andre Petroski vs. Gerald Meerschaert (middleweight)
Andrea Lee vs. Natalia Silva (Women’s Flyweight)
Gregory Rodrigues vs. Denis Tiuliulin (middleweight)
Karine Silva vs. Maryna Moroz (Women’s Flyweight)
Saturday, August 26 – UFC Fight Night – Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore
Former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway
(Getty Images)
Max Holloway vs “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Hung (Featherweight)
Saturday, September 2 – UFC Fight Night – Accor Arena, Paris, France
Ciryl Gane vs Sergey Spivak (Heavyweight)
Nora Cornolle vs. Joselyne Edwards (Women’s Bantamweight)
Sunday, September 10 – UFC 293 – TBA, Sydney, Australia
TBA vs TBA
Saturday, October 21 – UFC 294 – Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
TBA vs TBA
