It’s fight week once again as all eyes turn to Madison Square Garden for UFC 322. Alongside the massive pay-per-view event, five other major promotions will host cards in what promises to be a packed weekend of mixed martial arts action.
Let’s take a look at what’s on tap next weekend.
LFA 222
Fresh off a successful event in Brasília last Friday, Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) heads to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut this Friday. Vinicius Pires (11-1) will look to make the first defense of his bantamweight title when he faces Artem Belakh (10-2) in the main event.
The main card will also feature Aline Pereira (1-2), who returns to MMA after a two-year hiatus during which she earned three wins under the Karate Combat banner.
UAE Warriors 65
The first of five events on Saturday takes place in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, where Brazilians Lany Silva (7-2) and Michele Oliveira (5-1) will battle for the vacant UAE Warriors women’s strawweight championship.
Cage Warriors 196
Two vacant titles are up for grabs at London’s Indigo at The O2 on Saturday night. After losing his original opponent Nik Bagley to injury, unbeaten Irishman Solomon Simon (6-0) now meets Caique Araujo (7-2) for the featherweight title. Meanwhile, Shirzad Qadrian (8-1) faces Elton Armindo (7-0) for the bantamweight strap.
KSW 112
More gold will be on the line Saturday at Netto Arena in Szczecin, Poland, where Patryk Kaczmarczyk (12-3) and Adam Soldaev (10-2) square off for the KSW Interim Featherweight Championship.
UFC 322
The site of countless historic moments in combat sports, Madison Square Garden could witness two more UFC fighters achieve “double champ” status on Saturday night.
Lightweight king Islam Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) moves up to challenge welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC), while Zhang Weili (26-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) vacates her strawweight title to move up and challenge Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC) for the flyweight crown.
Stay tuned for our full main card breakdown later in the week.
ONE 173
Wrapping up the weekend, ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri takes place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Although the heavyweight title fight between Oumar Kane and Anatoly Malykhin has been scrapped, the bantamweight championship bout between Yuya Wakamatsu (19-6) and Joshua Pacio (23-4) remains intact.
In addition, Christian Lee (17-4) will defend his welterweight title against unbeaten contender Alibeg Rasulov (14-0) after their first meeting ended in a no contest last December.
