Another year of UFC action is upon us, as fans anticipate Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon as well as some major title fights.
McGregor, who remains the face of the sport, has not competed since breaking his leg in July 2021 but is as vocal as ever about a return, though new stars have emerged elsewhere and will help to keep audiences engaged.
In one of the biggest fights of 2023, recently crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will defend his title against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski, with the pair scheduled to meet on the latter’s home turf in Australia in February. Furthermore, former pound-for-pound No 1 Kamaru Usman is expected to try to regain the welterweight title from Leon Edwards, who dethroned the Nigerian-American with a stunning knockout in August 2022. The pair’s rematch – their third clash, in fact – is set to headline March’s London card, after Edwards’ title triumph made him just the second British UFC champion ever.
And we will finally see light-heavyweight ‘GOAT’ Jon Jones move up to heavyweight, as he fights Ciryl Gane for the championship vacated by Francis Ngannou, who has now left the UFC.
Here is every fight and event announced by the mixed martial arts promotion for the coming weeks and months (cards subject to change):
Saturday 21 January – UFC 283 – Jeunesse Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Main card
Glover Teixeira vs Jamahal Hill (vacant light-heavyweight title)
Deiveson Figueiredo (C) vs Brandon Moreno (IC) 4 (flyweight title)
Gilbert Burns vs Neil Magny (welterweight)
Lauren Murphy vs Jessica Andrade (women’s flyweight)
Paul Craig vs Johnny Walker (light-heavyweight)
Prelims
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs Ihor Potieria (light-heavyweight)
Brad Tavares vs Gregory Rodrigues (middleweight)
Thiago Moises vs Guram Kutateladze (lightweight)
Shamil Abdurakhimov vs Jailton Almeida (heavyweight)
Early prelims
Gabriel Bonfim vs Mounir Lazzez (welterweight)
Luan Lacerda vs Cody Stamann (bantamweight)
Ismael Bonfim vs Terrance McKinney (lightweight)
Warlley Alves vs Nicolas Dalby (welterweight)
Josiane Nunes vs Zarah Fairn (women’s featherweight)
Saimon Oliveira vs Daniel Marcos (bantamweight)
Saturday 4 February – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Derrick Lewis vs Serghei Spivac (heavyweight)
Dooho Choi vs Kyle Nelson (featherweight)
Junyong Park vs Denis Tiuliulin (middleweight)
Tatsuro Taira vs Jesus Aguilar (flyweight)
Yusaku Kinoshita vs Adam Fugitt (welterweight)
Ji Yeon Kim vs Many Bohm (women’s flyweight)
Saturday 11 February – UFC 284 – RAC Arena, Perth, Australia
Islam Makhachev (C) vs Alexander Volkanovski (featherweight champion) (lightweight title)
Yair Rodriguez vs Josh Emmett (interim featherweight title)
Jack Della Maddalena vs Randy Brown (welterweight)
Loma Lookboonmee vs Elise Reed (women’s strawweight)
Joel Alvarez vs Zubaira Tukhugov (lightweight)
Justin Tafa vs Parker Porter (heavyweight)
Tyson Pedro vs Zhang Mingyang (light-heavyweight)
Jimmy Crute vs Alonzo Menifield (light-heavyweight)
Josh Culibao vs Melsik Baghdasaryan (featherweight)
Shannon Ross vs Kleydson Rodrigues (flyweight)
Jack Jenkins vs Don Shainis (featherweight)
Saturday 18 February – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Marlon Vera vs Cory Sandhagen (bantamweight)
Taila Santos vs Erin Blanchfield (women’s flyweight)
Saturday 25 February – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
TBA vs TBA
Mike Malott vs Yohan Lainesse (welterweight)
Cortney Casey vs Jasmine Jasudavicius (women’s flyweight)
Saturday 4 March – UFC 285 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, US
Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane (vacant heavyweight title)
Geoff Neal vs Shavkat Rakhmonov (welterweight)
Saturday 11 March – UFC Fight Night – The Theater, Las Vegas, US
TBA vs TBA
Saturday 18 March – UFC Fight Night – O2 Arena, London, UK
Leon Edwards (C) vs Kamaru Usman (welterweight title)
Justin Gaethje vs Rafael Fiziev (lightweight)
Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze (middleweight)
Nathaniel Wood vs Lerone Murphy (featherweight)
Joanne Wood vs Luana Carolina (women’s flyweight)
Jake Hadley vs Malcolm Gordon (flyweight)
Saturday 25 March – UFC Fight Night – AT&T Center, San Antonio, US
TBA vs TBA
