Ringside Seats

Upcoming MMA Matchups of Note

***Card and dates subject to change. Click on the matchup for preview.***

May 12, UFC 224 (PPV)
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship (135 lb): (1) Amanda Nunes (Brazil) vs. (4) Raquel Pennington (United States)
Middleweight (185 lb): (5) Ronaldo Souza (Brazil) vs. (6) Kelvin Gastelum (United States)

May 19, UFC Fight Night 129 (FS1)
Welterweight (170 lb): (8) Demian Maia (Brazil) vs. (10) Kamaru Usman (Nigeria)

June 1, UFC Fight Night 131 (FS1)
Bantamweight (135 lb): (5) Marlon Moraes (Brazil) vs. (6) Jimmie Rivera (United States)

June 9, UFC 225 (PPV)
UFC Middleweight Championship (185 lb): (1) Robert Whittaker (New Zealand) vs. (2) Yoel Romero (Cuba)
UFC Interim Welterweight Championship (170 lb): (2) Rafael dos Anjos (Brazil) vs. (7) Colby Covington (United States)
Women’s Featherweight (145 lb): (3) Megan Anderson (Australia) vs. (2) [Women’s Bantamweight] Holly Holm (United States)
Heavyweight (205+ lb): (3) Alistair Overeem (Netherlands) vs. (9) Curtis Blaydes (United States)
Women’s Strawweight (115 lb): (4) Claudia Gadelha (Brazil) vs. (7) Carla Esparza (United States)
Flyweight (125 lb): (2) Joseph Benavidez (United States) vs. (7) Sergio Pettis (United States)

July 7, UFC 226 (PPV)
UFC Heavyweight Championship (205+ lb): (1) Stipe Miocic (United States) vs. (1) [Light Heavyweight] Daniel Cormier (United States)
UFC Featherweight Championship (145 lb): (1) Max Holloway (United States) vs. (2) Brian Ortega (United States)

Bellator 202 (Paramount)
Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship (145 lb): (2) Julia Budd (Canada) vs. (7) Talita Nogueira (Brazil)

UFC Fight Night 134 (FS1)
Light Heavyweight (205 lb): (6) Glover Teixeira (Brazil) vs. (9) Ilir Latifi (Sweden)

UFC on FOX 30 (FOX)
Featherweight (145 lb): (3) Jose Aldo (Brazil) vs. (7) Jeremy Stephens (United States)
Women’s Strawweight (115 lb): (2) Joanna Jedrzejczyk (Poland) vs. (6) Tecia Torres (United States)

UFC 227 (PPV)
UFC Bantamweight Championship (135 lb): (1) T.J. Dillashaw (United States) vs. (2) Cody Garbrandt (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. The rankings may also change throughout the year based on reevaluations or second viewings.***

1 Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje UFC on FOX 29
2 Shane Burgos vs. Calvin Kattar UFC 220
3 Michael Johnson vs. Darren Elkins UFC Fight Night 124
4 Drew Dober vs. Frank Camacho UFC on FOX 27
5 Thiago Santos vs. Anthony Smith UFC Fight Night 125
6 Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Kyle Bochniak UFC 223
7 Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk UFC 223
8 Mamed Khalidov vs. Tomasz Narkun KSW 42
9 Jimi Manuwa vs. Jan Blachowicz UFC Fight Night 127
10 Li Jingliang vs. Jake Matthews UFC 221
11 Lucie Pudilova vs. Sarah Moras UFC Fight Night 126
12 Doo Ho Choi vs. Jeremy Stephens UFC Fight Night 124
13 Mike Perry vs. Max Griffin UFC on FOX 28
14 Merab Dvalishvili vs. Ricky Simon UFC Fight Night 128
15 Jessica Andrade vs. Tecia Torres UFC on FOX 28
16 Thomas Deak vs. Sharamazan Shupanov FNG 84
17 Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Felice Herrig UFC 223
18 Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir UFC 220
19 Wilson Reis vs. John Moraga UFC on FOX 29
20 Jeremy Stephens vs. Josh Emmett UFC on FOX 28
21 Renan Barao vs. Brian Kelleher UFC on FOX 28
22 Luke Rockhold vs. Yoel Romero UFC 221
23 Sean O’Malley vs. Andre Soukhamthath UFC 222
24 Thomas Almeida vs. Rob Font UFC 220
25 John Dodson vs. Pedro Munhoz UFC 222
26 Carlos Condit vs. Alex Oliveira UFC on FOX 29
27 Gian Villante vs. Francimar Barroso UFC 220
28 Joe Lauzon vs. Chris Gruetzemacher UFC 223
29 Dustin Ortiz vs. Alexandre Pantoja UFC 220
30 Christian Lee vs. Kazunori Yokota ONE 69
31 Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexander Volkov UFC Fight Night 127
32 Zhalgas Zhumagalov vs. Tyson Nam FNG 86
33 Jussier Formiga vs. Ben Nguyen UFC 221
34 Kalyn Schwartz vs. Kay Hansen Invicta 28
35 Tyson Pedro vs. Saparkbek Safarov UFC 221
36 Nanaka Kawamura vs. Mizuki Furuse DEEP JEWELS 19
37 Thiago Alves vs. Curtis Millender UFC Fight Night 126
38 Riski Umar vs. Khon Sichan ONE 69
39 Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Al Iaquinta UFC 223
40 Michael Prazeres vs. Desmond Green UFC Fight Night 125
41 Edson Barboza vs. Kevin Lee UFC Fight Night 128

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.”

May 5, HBO
Middleweight (160 lb): (2) Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan) vs. Vanes Martirosyan (Armenia)

May 12, ESPN
Lightweight (135 lb): (2) Jorge Linares (Venezuela) vs. (1) [Super Featherweight] Vasyl Lomachenko (Ukraine)

May 19, Showtime
Light Heavyweight (175 lb): (1) Adonis Stevenson (Canada) vs. (3) Badou Jack (Sweden)

May 19
Featherweight (126 lb): (6) Lee Selby (United Kingdom) vs. (7) Josh Warrington (United Kingdom)

May 19, Showtime
Featherweight (126 lb): (3) Gary Russell, Jr. (United States) vs. (8) Joseph Diaz (United States)

May 20
Light Flyweight (108 lb): (2) Ryoichi Taguchi (Japan) vs. (6) Hekkie Budler (South Africa)

May 25
Light Flyweight (108 lb): (1) Ken Shiro (Japan) vs. (3) Ganigan Lopez (Mexico)

May 25
Bantamweight (118 lb): (2) Jamie McDonnell (United Kingdom) vs. (2) [Super Flyweight] Naoya Inoue (Japan)

May 26
Super Flyweight (115 lb): (5) Jonas Sultan (Philippines) vs. (6) Jerwin Ancajas (Philippines)

June 9, Showtime
Featherweight (126 lb): (1) Leo Santa Cruz (Mexico) vs. (4) Abner Mares (Mexico)

June 9, ESPN
Welterweight (147 lb): (1) Jeff Horn (Australia) vs. (1) [Super Lightweight] Terrence Crawford (United States)