UFC has made good on its promise to never stop running live events throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Despite cancelling a handful of shows early on, the premier mixed martial arts organization in the world has had events just about every week since May 9.
It started with Tony Ferguson taking on Justin Gaethje in Jacksonville and has seen Amanda Nunes face off with Felicia Spencer in Las Vegas. The company closed out its short residency in Sin City with an instant classic as Dustin Poirier outlasted Dan Hooker over five grueling rounds to insert his name back into title contention at 155 pounds.
As we head into the teeth of summer, UFC is getting ready to go global once again with Fight Island coming to life off the coast of Abu Dhabi. Things get kicked off in earnest this weekend with UFC 251 boasting a trio of title fights. In the main event, Kamaru Usman will look to defend his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal after his scheduled opponent and teammate, Gilbert Burns, was forced to withdraw after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Plus, Alexander Volkanovski faces off with Max Holloway in a featherweight title rematch and Petr Yan takes on Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight title.
Can’t get enough UFC? Subscribe to our podcast State of Combat with Brian Campbell where we break down everything you need to know in the Octagon, including a complete preview of UFC 251 with Hall of Famer ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans.
Fight Island has plenty of action scheduled as well with three other cards delivering huge main events including Calvin Kattar vs. Dan Ige at featherweight, Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez II for the flyweight title and Darren Till vs. Robert Whittaker at middleweight.
Plus, we finally have a date for the trilogy matchup between heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier as the two will battle on August 15 at a location to be determined. Plus, UFC has announced a total of eight cards so far for the summer that you can check out below.
Be sure to check back in on this page when we have more information on upcoming UFC events throughout the year.
Upcoming UFC Schedule
Event | Date | Main event | Weightclass | Location | TV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 11 |
Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Jorge Masvidal |
Welterweight title |
Abu Dhabi |
ESPN+ PPV |
|
UFC Fight Night |
July 15 |
Calvin Kattar vs. Dan Ige |
Featherweights |
Abu Dhabi |
ESPN/ESPN+ |
UFC Fight Night |
July 18 |
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez |
Flyweight title |
Abu Dhabi |
ESPN/ESPN+ |
UFC Fight Night |
July 25 |
Darren Till vs. Robert Whittaker |
Middleweights |
Abu Dhabi |
ESPN/ESPN+ |
UFC Fight Night |
Aug. 1 |
Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana |
Women’s bantamweights |
TBD |
ESPN/ESPN+ |
UFC 252 | Aug. 15 | Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier | Heavyweight title | TBD | ESPN+ PPV |