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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Alex Pattle

UFC 2022 schedule: Every major fight happening this year

Getty Images

Following one of the most successful and engrossing years in the history of the UFC, the mixed martial arts promotion will look to keep building in 2022.

2021 saw Conor McGregor fight twice, marking his most active year since 2016. The Irishman lost to Dustin Poirier in each outing, suffering a horrific broken leg in the most recent, but he is targeting a summer return to the Octagon.

Elsewhere, newer stars like Israel Adesanya, Khamzat Chimaev and Sean O’Malley are looking to further enhance their legacies and profiles, while featherweight queen Amanda Nunes will surely seek to regain her bantamweight belt after losing it to Julianna Pena in a major upset in December.

Islam Makhachev continues to pursue his goal of becoming lightweight champion to follow in the footsteps of his close friend and cornerman Khabib Nurmagomedov, while the men’s bantamweight division is set to see a unification bout between its interim champion Petr Yan and official title holder Aljamain Sterling – with the heavyweight title having been unified in January when Francis Ngannou outpointed Ciryl Gane.

Here are all the UFC events and fights announced for the coming weeks and months (cards subject to change):

Saturday 16 July – UFC Fight Night – UBS Arena, Elmont

Two-time UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega (Getty Images)

Main card

Brian Ortega vs Yair Rodriguez (featherweight)

Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs Amanda Lemos (women’s strawweight)

Li Jingliang vs Muslim Salikhov (welterweight)

Matt Schnell vs Sumudaerji (flyweight)

Shane Burgos vs Charles Jourdain (featherweight)

Lauren Murphy vs Miesha Tate (women’s flyweight)

Prelims

Punahele Soriano vs Dalcha Lungiambula (middleweight)

Ricky Simon vs Jack Shore (bantamweight)

Bill Algeo vs Herbert Burns (featherweight)

Dustin Jacoby vs Da-Un Jung (light heavyweight)

Dwight Grant vs Dustin Stoltzfus (middleweight)

Jessica Penne vs Emily Ducote (women’s strawweight)

Saturday 23 July – UFC Fight Night – O2 Arena, London

Wigan heavyweight Tom Aspinall will again headline at London’s O2 Arena (Getty Images)

Main card

Curtis Blaydes vs Tom Aspinall (heavyweight)

Jack Hermansson vs Chris Curtis (middleweight)

Paddy Pimblett vs Jordan Leavitt (lightweight)

Nikita Krylov vs Alexander Gustafsson (light heavyweight)

Molly McCann vs Hannah Goldy (women’s flyweight)

Paul Craig vs Volkan Oezdemir (light heavyweight)

Prelims

Marc Diakiese vs Damir Hadzovic (lightweight)

Nathaniel Wood vs Charles Rosa (bantamweight)

Makwan Amirkhani vs Jonathan Pearce (featherweight)

Muhammad Mokaev vs Charles Johnson (flyweight)

Jai Herbert vs Kyle Nelson (lightweight)

Mandy Bohm vs Victoria Leonardo (women’s flyweight)

Claudio Silva vs Nicolas Dalby (welterweight)

Saturday 30 July – UFC 277 – American Airlines Center, Dallas

Julianna Pena (right) dethroned Amanda Nunes in December (Getty Images)

Main card

Julianna Pena (C) vs Amanda Nunes 2 (women’s bantamweight title)

Brandon Moreno vs Kai Kara-France (interim flyweight title)

Derrick Lewis vs Sergei Pavlovich (heavyweight)

Alexandre Pantoja vs Alex Perez (flyweight)

Magomed Ankalaev vs Anthony Smith (light heavyweight)

Prelims

Alex Morono vs Matthew Semelsberger (welterweight)

Drew Dober vs Rafael Alves (lightweight)

Justin Tafa vs Don’Tale Mayes (heavyweight)

Diego Ferreira vs Drakkar Klose (lightweight)

Ramiz Brahimaj vs Michael Morales (welterweight)

Ji Yeon Kim vs Mariya Agapova (women’s flyweight)

Igancio Bahamondes vs Ludovit Klein (lightweight)

Nicolae Negumereanu vs Ihor Potieria (light heavyweight)

Saturday 6 August – UFC Fight Night – TBD

Thiago Santos vs Jamahal Hill (light heavyweight)

Shamil Gamzatov vs Misha Cirkunov (light heavyweight)

Bryan Battle vs Takashi Sato (welterweight)

Saturday 13 August – UFC Fight Night – Pechanga Arena, San Diego

Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (AP)

Main card

Marlon Vera vs Dominick Cruz (bantamweight)

Alexa Grasso vs Viviane Araujo (women’s flyweight)

Malcolm Gordon vs Allan Nascimento (flyweight)

Aspen Ladd vs Sara McMann (women’s bantamweight)

Devin Clark vs Azamat Murzakanov (light heavyweight)

Prelims

Bruno Silva vs Gerald Meerschaert (middleweight)

Martin Buday vs Lukasz Brzeski (heavyweight)

Yazmin Jauregui vs Istela Nunes (women’s strawweight)

Saturday 20 August – UFC 278 – Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (Getty Images)

Main card

Kamaru Usman (C) vs Leon Edwards 2 (welterweight title)

Jose Aldo vs Merab Dvalishvili (bantamweight)

Paulo Costa vs Luke Rockhold (middleweight)

Amir Albazi vs Francisco Figueiredo (flyweight)

Marcin Tybura vs Alexander Romanov (heavyweight)

Prelims

Leonardo Santos vs Jared Gordon (lightweight)

Wu Yanan vs Lucie Pudilova (women’s bantamweight)

Tyson Pedro vs Harry Hunsucker (light heavyweight)

Daniel da Silva vs Victor Altamirano (flyweight)

Aoriqileng vs Jay Perrin (bantamweight)

AJ Fletcher vs Ange Loosa (welterweight)

Sean Woodson vs Luis Saldana (featherweight)

Saturday 3 September – UFC Fight Night – Accor Arena, Paris

Former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane (Getty Images)

Ciryl Gane vs Tai Tuivasa (heavyweight)

Robert Whittaker vs Marvin Vettori (middleweight)

Jessica Andrade vs Manon Fiorot (women’s flyweight)

Nassourdine Imavov vs Joaquin Buckley (middleweight)

Alessio di Chirico vs Roman Kopylov (middleweight)

Zarah Fairn vs Ailin Perez (women’s featherweight)

John Makdessi vs Nasrat Haqparast (lightweight)

Saturday 10 September – UFC Fight Night – TBA

TBA vs TBA

Saturday 17 September – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas

UFC bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen (right) headlines against Song Yadong (Getty Images)

Cory Sandhagen vs Song Yadong (bantamweight)

Giga Chikadze vs Sodiq Yusuff (featherweight)

Chidi Njokuani vs Gregory Rodrigues (middleweight)

Tanner Boser vs Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira (heavyweight)

Andre Fili vs Lando Vannata (featherweight)

Maryna Moroz vs Sijara Eubanks (women’s flyweight)

Saturday 22 October – UFC 280 – Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi

Charles Oliveira vs Islam Makhachev (vacant lightweight title)

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