UFC schedule 2023: Every major fight happening this year

Getty

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 due to fight Michael Chandler this autumn, though new stars have emerged elsewhere to help keep audiences engaged.

In one of the biggest fights of 2023, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev retained his title against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski, narrowly winning a decision on the latter’s home turf in Australia in February. Then, in March, light-heavyweight ‘GOAT’ Jon Jones moved up to heavyweight after three years away, submitting Ciryl Gane in the first round to win the title vacated by Francis Ngannou in January, when the latter left the UFC.

Later in March, Britain’s Leon Edwards retained the welterweight belt with a decision win over Kamaru Usman in London, seven months after taking the title from the “Nigerian Nightmare” with a stunning head kick. April then kicked off with Israel Adesanya finally beating long-time rival Alex Pereira, the 33-year-old knocking out the Brazilian to regain the middleweight belt that he lost to Pereira in November.

There are plenty more title fights to come, too, starting with Henry Cejudo’s return after a long absence to challenge Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight belt in May. Here is every fight and event announced by the mixed martial arts promotion for the coming weeks and months (cards subject to change):

Saturday 20 May – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US

Mackenzie Dern celebrates her submission victory over Hannah Cifers (Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Main card

Mackenzie Dern vs Angela Hill (women’s strawweight)

Edmen Shahbazyan vs Anthony Hernandez (middleweight)

Emily Ducote vs Polyana Viana (women’s strawweight)

Andre Fialho vs Joaquin Buckley (welterweight)

Maheshate vs Viacheslav Borshchev (lightweight)

Diego Ferreira vs Michael Johnson (lightweight)

Prelims

Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Vanessa Demopoulos (women’s strawweight)

Orion Cosce vs Gilbert Urbina (welterweight)

Ilir Latifi vs Rodrigo Nascimento (heavyweight)

Chase Hooper vs Nick Fiore (lightweight)

Natalia Silva vs Victoria Leonardo (women’s flyweight)

Takashi Sato vs Themba Gorimbo (welterweight)

Saturday 3 June – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US

Kai Kara-France vs Amir Albazi (flyweight)

Miesha Tate vs Mayra Bueno Silva (women’s bantamweight)

Saturday 10 June – UFC 289 – Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada

Amanda Nunes (right) and Julianna Pena were set to round out their trilogy, but the latter broke her ribs (Getty Images)

Amanda Nunes (C) vs Irene Aldana (women’s bantamweight title)

Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush (lightweight)

Nassourdine Imavov vs Chris Curtis (middleweight)

Saturday 17 June – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US

Marvin Vettori vs Jared Cannonier (middleweight)

Saturday 24 June – UFC Fight Night – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, US

Josh Emmett vs Ilia Topuria (featherweight)

Saturday 1 July – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US

Sean Strickland vs Abus Magomedov (middleweight)

Saturday 8 July – UFC 290 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, US

Two-time UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno (Getty Images)

Alexander Volkanovski (C) vs Yair Rodriguez (IC) (featherweight title)

Brandon Moreno (C) vs Alexandre Pantoja (flyweight title)

Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight)

Jalin Turner vs Dan Hooker (lightweight)

Robbie Lawler vs Niko Price (welterweight)

Saturday 22 July – UFC Fight Night – O2 Arena, London, UK

Tom Aspinall suffered an injury in July 2022 and returns almost a year to the day after (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)

Tom Aspinall vs Marcin Tybura (heavyweight)

Molly McCann vs Julija Stoliarenko (women’s flyweight)

Nathaniel Wood vs Andre Fili (featherweight)

Jai Herbert vs Fares Ziam (lightweight)

Lerone Murphy vs Josh Culibao (featherweight)

Ketlen Vieira vs Pannie Kianzad (women’s bantamweight)

Marc Diakiese vs Joel Alvarez (lightweight)

Davey Grant vs Daniel Marcos (bantamweight)

Saturday 29 July – UFC 291 – Vivint Arena, Utah, US

Former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier (Getty Images)

Dustin Poirier vs Justin Gaethje (lightweight – vacant ‘BMF’ title)

Jan Blachowicz vs Alex Pereira (light-heavyweight)

Paulo Costa vs Ikram Aliskerov (middleweight)

Tony Ferguson vs Bobby Green (lightweight)

Michael Chiesa vs Kevin Holland (welterweight)

Saturday 19 August – UFC 292 – TD Garden, Boston, US

Aljamain Sterling (C) vs Sean O’Malley (bantamweight title)

Zhang Weili (C) vs Amanda Lemos (women’s strawweight title)

Saturday 21 October – UFC 294 – Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, UAE

TBA vs TBA