Mark
Upcoming MMA Matchups of Note
***Card and dates subject to change. Click on the matchup for preview.***
September 8, UFC 228 (PPV)
UFC Welterweight Championship (170 lb): (1) Tyron Woodley (c) (United States) vs. (7) Darren Till (United Kingdom)
UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship (125 lb): (8) Nicco Montaño (c) (United States) vs. (1) Valentina Shevchenko (Kyrgyzstan)
Women’s Strawweight (115 lb): (3) Jessica Andrade (Brazil) vs. (5) Karolina Kowalkiewicz (Poland)
Bantamweight (135 lb): (5) Jimmie Rivera (United States) vs. (9) John Dodson (United States)
September 29, Bellator 206 (DAZN)
Bellator Middleweight Championship (185 lb): (6) Gegard Mousasi (c) (Iran) vs. (5) [Welterweight] Rory MacDonald (Canada)
September 30, Rizin FF
Women’s Atomweight (105 lb): (1) Ayaka Hamasaki (Japan) vs. (5) Mina Kurobe (Japan)
October 6, UFC 229 (PPV)
UFC Lightweight Championship (155 lb): (1) Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) (Russia) vs. (NR) Conor McGregor (Ireland)
Heavyweight (205+ lb): (3) Alexander Volkov (Russia) vs. (5) Derrick Lewis (United States)
Flyweight (125 lb): (4) Sergio Pettis (United States) vs. (7) Jussier da Silva (Brazil)
November 3, UFC 230 (PPV)
Middleweight (185 lb): (3) Luke Rockhold (United States) vs. (7) Chris Weidman (United States)
Middleweight (185 lb): (5) Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (Brazil) vs. (9) David Branch (United States)
November 10, UFC Fight Night 139 (FS1)
Flyweight (125 lb): (5) Joseph Benavidez (United States) vs. (6) Ray Borg (United States)
November 24, UFC Fight Night (FS1)
Heavyweight (205+ lb): (6) Francis Ngannou (Cameroon) vs. (7) Curtis Blaydes (United States)
December 29, UFC 232
UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship (145 lb): (1) Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (c) (Brazil) vs. (1) [Women’s Bantamweight] Amanda Nunes (Brazil)
Light Heavyweight (205 lb): (8) Ilir Latifi (Sweden) vs. (10) Corey Anderson (United States)
Ongoing Fight of the Year Rankings
***Rankings based on excitement, competitiveness, technical skill, and activity, but not necessarily in that order. I won’t rank anything that I don’t believe to be worth watching, so average or lackluster fights will not place. This is not meant to be comprehensive; I will only be ranking those fights which I have seen. I have a lot of stuff on my plate to watch at any one time, so some fights of note may be missing. Lots of prelim and international fights in my queue. The rankings may also change throughout the year based on reevaluations or second viewings.***
1 Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje – UFC on Fox 29 (4/14)
2 Calvin Kattar vs. Shane Burgos – UFC 220 (1/20)
3 Drew Dober vs. Frank Camacho – UFC on Fox 27 (1/27)
4 Darren Elkins vs. Michael Johnson – UFC Fight Night 124 (1/14)
5 Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero- UFC 225 (7/9)
6 Merab Dvalishvili vs. Ricky Simon – UFC Fight Night 128 (4/21)
7 Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk- UFC 223 (4/7)
8 Thiago Santos vs. Anthony Smith – UFC Fight Night 125 (2/3)
9 Pedro Munhoz vs. Brett Johns – UFC 227 (8/4)
10 Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Kyle Bochniak – UFC 223 (4/7)
11 Jake Matthews vs. Li Jingliang – UFC 221 (2/10)
12 Mamed Khalidov vs. Tomasz Narkun – KSW 42 (3/3)
13 John Makdessi vs. Ross Pearson – UFC on Fox 30 (7/28)
14 Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo – UFC 227 (8/4)
15 Jimi Manuwa vs. Jan Blachowicz – UFC Fight Night 127 (3/17)
16 Jessica Andrade vs. Tecia Torres – UFC on Fox 28 (2/24)
17 Mike Perry vs. Max Griffin – UFC on FOX 28 (2/24)
18 Uriah Hall vs. Paulo Costa – UFC 226 (7/7)
19 Sarah Moras vs. Lucie Pudilova – UFC Fight Night 126 (2/18)
20 Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier – UFC on Fox 30 (7/28)
21 Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Felice Herrig – UFC 223 (4/7)
22 Jacare Souza vs. Kelvin Gastelum – UFC 224 (5/12)
23 Gerald Meerschaert vs. Oskar Piechota – The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale (7/6)
24 Erik Koch vs. Bobby Green – UFC on Fox 27 (1/27)
25 Jeremy Stephens vs. Doo Ho Choi – UFC Fight Night 124 (1/14)
26 Mike Perry vs. Paul Felder – UFC 226 (7/7)
27 Wilson Reis vs. John Moraga – UFC on FOX 29 (4/14)
28 Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens – UFC on Fox 30 (7/28)
29 Rolando Dy vs. Shane Young – UFC Fight Night 132 (6/23)
30 John Lineker vs. Brian Kelleher – UFC 224 (5/12)
31 Tomas Deak vs. Sharamazan Shupanov – Fight Nights Global 84 (3/2)
32 Jeremy Stephens vs. Josh Emmett – UFC on FOX 28 (2/24)
33 Renan Barao vs. Brian Kelleher – UFC on FOX 28 (2/24)
34 Michel Pereira vs. Hae Jun Yang – ROAD FC 48 (7/28)
35 Claudio Puelles vs. Felipe Silva – UFC Fight Night 129 (5/19)
36 Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir – UFC 220 (1/20)
37 Alex Caceres vs. Martin Bravo – The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale (7/6)
38 Shana Dobson vs. Lauren Mueller – UFC on FOX 29 (4/14)
39 Glaico Franca vs. Takashi Sato – Pancrase 297 (7/1)
40 Oleg Popov vs. Adam Bogatirov – M-1 95 (7/21)
41 Sean O’Malley vs. Andre Soukhamthath – UFC 222 (3/3)
42 Ben Saunders vs. Alan Jouban – UFC on FOX 28 (2/24)
43 Yoel Romero vs. Luke Rockhold – UFC 221 (2/10)
44 Cory Sandhagen vs. Iuri Alcantara – UFC Fight Night 135 (8/25)
45 Steven Peterson vs. Brandon Davis – UFC Fight Night 126 (2/18)
46 Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Colby Covington – UFC 225 (6/9)
47 Senzo Ikeda vs. Yuya Wakamatsu – Pancrase 293 (2/4)
48 Jason Knight vs. Makwan Amirkhani – UFC Fight Night 130 (5/27)
49 Matheus Mattos vs. Nashkho Galaev – ACB 82 (3/9)
50 Carlos Condit vs. Alex Oliveira – UFC on FOX 29 (4/14)
Upcoming Kickboxing Matchups of Note
***Card and dates subject to change***
Glory 58: Chicago, September 14 (ESPN3)
Glory Middleweight Championship (187.4 lb): (1) Alex Pereira (c) (Brazil) vs. (2) Simon Marcus (Canada)
World Fighting League: Final 8, September 22
Women’s Bantamweight (143.3 lb): (2, P4P) Jorina Baars (Netherlands) vs. (7, P4P) Anissa Haddaoui (Netherlands)
Glory 59: Amsterdam, September 29
Glory Heavyweight Championship (209.4+ lb): (1) Rico Verhoeven (c) (Netherlands) vs. (6) Guto Inocente (Brazil)
Glory Featherweight Championship (154.1 lb): (2) Robin van Roosmalen (c) (Netherlands) vs. (5) Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao (Thailand)
Upcoming Boxing Matches of Note
***Card and dates subject to change. Click on the matchup for preview. Television access listed where available. International match ups not shown on American television can often be found on YouTube soon after the completion of the fight.***
Bolded match ups are considered “must see.”
September 8, HBO
Super Flyweight (115 lb): (4) Kazuto Ioka (Japan) vs. (7) McWilliams Arroyo (Puerto Rico)
September 8, Showtime
Welterweight (147 lb): (4) Shawn Porter (United States) vs. (6) Danny Garcia (United States)
September 11
Bantamweight (118 lb): (7) Mark John Yap (Philippines) vs. (9) Takuma Inoue (Japan)
September 15, HBO PPV
Middleweight (160 lb): (1) Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (Mexico) vs. (2) Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan)
September 22
Heavyweight (200+ lb): (1) Anthony Joshua (United Kingdom) vs. (3) Alexander Povetkin (Russia)
September 24
Flyweight (112 lb): (2) Kosei Tanaka (Japan) vs. (5) Sho Kimura (Japan)
September 28
Super Middleweight (168 lb): (1) George Groves (United Kingdom) vs. (4) Callum Smith (United Kingdom)
October 6
Super Flyweight (115 lb): (1) Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (Thailand) vs. (10) Iran Diaz (Mexico)
October 7
Super Lightweight (140 lb): (3) Kiryl Relikh (Belarus) vs. (6) Eduard Troyanovsky (Russia)
Light Flyweight (108 lb): (1) Ken Shiro (Japan) vs. (5) Milan Melindo (Philippines)
Bantamweight (118 lb): (1) Naoya Inoue (Japan) vs. (11) Juan Carlos Payano (Dominican Republic)
October 20
Middleweight (160 lb): (5) Billy Joe Saunders (United Kingdom) vs. (6) Demetrius Andrade (United States)
October 20
Bantamweight (118 lb): (5) Emmanuel Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) vs. (8) Jason Moloney (Australia)
October 27
Super Lightweight (140 lb): (2) Regis Prograis (United States) vs. (6) Terry Flanagan (United Kingdom)
October 27, HBO
Middleweight (160 lb): (3) Daniel Jacobs (United States) vs. (9) Sergiy Derevyanchenko (Ukraine)
November 3
Bantamweight (118 lb): (3) Ryan Burnett (United Kingdom) vs. (4) Nonito Donaire (Philippines)
November 3, ESPN+
Super Featherweight (130 lb): (1) Miguel Berchelt (Mexico) vs. (4) Miguel Roman (Mexico)
December 1, Showtime
Light Heavyweight (175 lb): (2) Adonis Stevenson (Haiti) vs. (6) Oleksandr Gvozdyk (Ukraine)
