On Thursday, UFC President Dana White provided several updates to the promotion’s upcoming “Fight Island” cards which are set to take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, throughout July.
This included the announcements of fights, as well as providing fight card orders when he broke news to ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel.
We will take you through of the four Fight Island events as announced by White yesterday and – put it this way – there is a lot for MMA fans to look forward to during Fight Island season next month.
UFC 251: Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns information and full fight card – 12 July 2020
We knew UFC 251 was set to play host to three big UFC title bouts, but the rest of the card is now littered with fascinating fights.
A UFC welterweight title bout between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns will headline the event, while Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway will contest for the UFC featherweight championship in a rematch. Before that, Petr Yan and Jose Aldo will compete for the vacant UFC bantamweight belt.
Further down the card, there’s another fascinating rematch in the offing, pitting former UFC women’s strawweight champions Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas. Of course, Andrade beat Namajunas to dethrone her as champion, before succumbing to China’s Weili Zhang.
Two bouts which stick out to be a lot of fun happen to headline separate portions of the preliminary card.
In his first fight in the UFC, former Rizin light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka heavyweight champion will take on former UFC title contender Volkan Oezdemir. Lower down, Poland’s Marcin Tybura faces unbeaten Moldovan Alexander Romanov in his promotional debut in a big heavyweight tussle.
Full UFC 251: Usman vs. Burns fight card on Fight Island as announced
UFC Welterweight Championship: Kamaru Usman (c) vs. Gilbert Burns
UFC Featherweight Championship: Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Max Holloway
UFC Bantamweight Championship: Petr Yan vs. José Aldo
Women’s Strawweight: Jéssica Andrade vs. Rose Namajunas
Women’s Flyweight: Amanda Ribas vs. Paige VanZant
Light Heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir vs. Ji?í Procházka
Welterweight: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Muslim Salikhov
Featherweight: Makwan Amirkhani vs. Danny Henry
Lightweight: Leonardo Santos vs. Roman Bogatov
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura vs. Alexander Romanov
Flyweight: Raulian Paiva vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
Women’s Bantamweight: Karol Rosa vs. Vanessa Melo
Bantamweight: Davey Grant vs. Martin Day
Card subject to change
UFC Fight Night: Calvin Kattar vs. Dan Ige information and full fight card – 15 July 2020
On 15 July, we’ll be treated with a midweek UFC event which is filled with competitive match-ups.
The UFC Fight Night card will be headlined by a contest between featherweights Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige. The latter is coming off a recent split decision win over Edson Barboza in May.
In the co-main event, Frankie Edgar will make his long-awaited bantamweight debut when he takes on the tough Pedro Munhoz.
Elsewhere, fights such as Carla Esparza vs. Marina Rodriguez, Chris Fishgold vs. Jared Gordon, John Phillips vs. Dusko Todorovic and Tim Elliott vs. Ryan Benoit provide plenty of intrigue.
Full UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Ige fight card on Fight Island as announced
Featherweight: Calvin Kattar vs. Dan Ige
Bantamweight: Pedro Munhoz vs. Frankie Edgar
Women’s Strawweight: Carla Esparza vs. Marina Rodriguez
Welterweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Mounir Lazzez
Featherweight: Chris Fishgold vs. Jared Gordon
Light Heavyweight: Modestas Bukauskas vs. Vinicius Moreira
Women’s Flyweight: Molly McCann vs. Talia Santos
Featherweight: Ricardo Ramos vs. Lerone Murphy
Middleweight: John Phillips vs. Duško Todorovi?
Flyweight: Tim Elliott vs. Ryan Benoit
Women’s Flyweight: Diana Belbita vs. Liana Jojua
Card subject to change
UFC Fight Night: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez 2 information and full fight card – 18 July 2020
That weekend will see a bumper fight card packed with as much international flavour as seen during the last seven days.
The main event will be a rematch for the vacant UFC flyweight championship as Brazil’s Deiveson Figueiredo takes on the USA’s Joseph Benavidez.
Figueiredo won their first battle in February, but he didn’t leave the Octagon with coveted UFC gold after he failed to make championship weight ahead of the fight – leading to this rematch.
Other fun fights include Jack Hermansson vs. Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event, Marc Diakiese vs. Rafael Fiziev, Ariane Lipsi vs. Luana Carolina, Joe Duffy vs. Joel Alvarez and Brett Johns vs. Montel Jackson.
Full UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez fight card on Fight Island as announced
UFC Flyweight Championship: Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez
Middleweight: Jack Hermansson vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Lightweight: Marc Diakiese vs. Rafael Fiziev
Women’s Flyweight: Ariane Lipski vs. Luana Carolina
Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Askar Askarov
Light Heavyweight: Khadis Ibragimov vs. Roman Dolidze
Catchweight (150 lbs): Grant Dawson vs. Nad Narimani
Lightweight: Joseph Duffy vs. Joel Álvarez
Bantamweight: Brett Johns vs. Montel Jackson
Flyweight: Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Aleksander Doskalchuk
Lightweight: Davi Ramos vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Heavyweight: Sergey Spivak vs. Carlos Felipe
Card subject to change
UFC Fight Night: Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till information and full fight card – 25 July 2020
A week later, Fight Island will play host to perhaps the best Fight Night card of the month.
Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will face Liverpool’s Darren Till, a former UFC title contender himself.
The co-main event pits two Brazilian legends of mixed martial arts against each other as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua fights Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Lower down the main card, an intriguing heavyweight bout between ex-champion Fabricio Werdum and top UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson as the latter makes his debut in the division.
Other fights such as Alex Oliveira vs. Peter Sobotta, Danny Roberts vs. Nicolas Dalby and Nathaniel Wood vs. Umar Nurmagomedov are sure to create plenty of highlights.
Full UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Till fight card on Fight Island as announced
Middleweight: Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till
Light Heavyweight: Maurício Rua vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira
Welterweight: Alex Oliveira vs. Peter Sobotta
Heavyweight: Fabrício Werdum vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Welterweight: Danny Roberts vs. Nicolas Dalby
Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall vs. Jake Collier
Heavyweight: Justin Tafa vs. Raphael Pessoa
Featherweight: Mike Grundy vs. Movsar Evloev
Women’s Bantamweight: Bethe Correia vs. Pannie Kianzad
Bantamweight: Nathaniel Wood vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Welterweight: Ramazan Emeev vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
Card subject to change
