UFC headlines: Several new fights announced

The UFC has announced the first three fights for their return to Washington, D.C. slated to take place on December 7. The event is expected to be a UFC Fight Night on ESPN and a location has yet to be determined for the card.

A heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris has been booked as the main event for the Washington card. Overeem, 39, is currently ranked seventh in the heavyweight division. He is a former DREAM and Strikeforce heavyweight champion and a K-1 grand prix winner. He is currently on a two-fight winning streak with his last fight coming on April 20. He faced Aleksey Oleinik and defeated him via first-round TKO.

Walt Harris, 36, is currently ranked 11th in the UFC heavyweight division. He has gone 3-0 in his last four fights with one no-contest. His last fight was on July 20 where he also faced Aleksey Oleinik. He knocked Oleinik out in 12 seconds.

The second fight announced was a women’s bantamweight match between top-prospect Aspen Ladd and former featherweight title challenger Yana Kunitskaya. Aspen Ladd, currently ranked at number-5 in the women’s bantamweight rankings, is coming off of the first-loss of her professional career. Ladd fought recently, on July 13, against former featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie. Ladd suffered a TKO loss just 16 seconds into the fight. Many believe her poor performance was due to a struggled weight cut for Ladd heading into the bout. Ladd had an undefeated record prior to the de Randamie fight and now boats an MMA record of 8-1.

Yana Kunitskaya is currently on a two-fight winning streak since losing a featherweight title bout against former champ Cris Cyborg. She last fought on March 9 against Marion Reneau and defeated her opponent by unanimous decision. The former Invicta FC Bantamweight champion is currently ranked number-8 in the division.

A women’s strawweight bout was also announced for the Washington card as Claudia Gadelha will faceoff against Cynthia Calvillo. Gadelha has gone 2-2 in her last four UFC appearances. She last fought on July 6 against Randa Markos at UFC 239. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Prior to that she had lost a unanimous decision to Nina Ansaroff. She is currently ranked at number-5 in the women’s strawweight division.

Cynthia Calvillo is riding a two-fight win streak. She last fought on February 17 against Cortney Casey and defeated her opponent by unanimous decision. Prior to that she had defeated Poliana Botelho via first-round submission. She is currently ranked at number-11 by the UFC.

Holly Holm vs Raquel Pennington set for UFC 243

Former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm will return to action at UFC 243. Holm, who last fought current bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 239 on July 6 looks to get back into the win column. She has had ups and downs lately going just 3-4 in her last seven fights.

Holm will take on Raquel Pennington. Pennington is currently ranked sixth in the UFC bantamweight division. She last fought on July 20 and defeated Irene Aldana via split-decision. Prior to that, Pennington had lost two fights in a former – once to former featherweight champ Germaine de Randamie and once to bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes.

Zabit vs Kattar announced for UFC Boston

Featherweight prospect Zabit Magomedsharipov has his next fight set. Zabit will face Calvin Kattar on Friday, October 18 at UFC Boston. Zabit is 5-0 under the UFC banner and has a professional record of 17-1. His latest bout saw him face UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens at UFC 235 on March 2. He defeated Stephens via a dominant unanimous decision.

Calvin Kattar is 4-1 in the UFC and is riding a two-fight winning streak. His last fight, held at UFC 238 on June 8, saw Kattar knockout Ricardo Lamas in the first round. Prior to that he earned a first-round TKO victory over Chris Fishgold.

UFC Boston will be headlined by Chris Weidman making his light heavyweight debut against Dominick Reyes.

Anderson vs Walker, Black Beast vs Blagoy for UFC 244

It looks like the UFC’s next trip to Madison Square Garden just got a little more interesting. It was announced earlier this week that not one, but two fights may have been agreed to for the UFC 244 card set to take place on November 2. A heavyweight bout has been planned between the “Black Beast” Derrick Lewis and Balgoy Ivanov. Lewis is coming off of back-to-back losses against heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and Junior dos Santos. He was stopped in the second round in both fights – one by submission and one by TKO. Blagoy Ivanov has won two fights in a row since losing his UFC debut to Junior dos Santos. He last fought on June 8 at UFC 238 where he defeated Tai Tuivasa by unanimous decision.

Another bout expected to take place on the main card is a light heavyweight fight between two rising stars of the division. Corey Anderson has been very vocal lately about wanting a title shot against Jon Jones and he may get one step closer if he can get past the fan favorite Johnny Walker. Anderson last fought on December 29, 2018 at UFC 232. There he fought Ilir Latifi and defeated him via unanimous decision. He has won his last three fights in a row.

Johnny Walker has been exciting to watch but is coming off of an injury sustained on March 2 after a post-fight celebration gone wrong, causing him to injure his shoulder. On March 2, Walker defeated Misha Cirkunov with a flying knee TKO. He is 3-0 in the UFC and has finished all of his fights in the first round. He has not lost since 2016.

Frankie Edgar announces drop to bantamweight

After a long time of campaigning, on July 27 Frankie Edgar finally received a title shot against featherweight king Max Holloway. However, Edgar was defeated via a five-round unanimous decision. Soon after the fight, Edgar announced that he will make the drop down to bantamweight for the first time in his career. A former UFC lightweight champion, Edgar made his featherweight debut in 2013 but never achieved championship status in the division. The opponent for his bantamweight debut has yet to be determined.

Cyborg released from the UFC

After three years in the UFC, Cris Cyborg, 34, has been released by the organization. Cyborg fought the last fight of her contract on July 27 against Felicia Spencer. She defeated Spencer via unanimous decision. She was released only days later as UFC President said in an interview, “we’re out of the Cyborg business.”

Cris Cyborg is a former Strikeforce, Invicta FC, and UFC women’s featherweight champion. She went 6-1 during her time with the UFC and has a professional record of 21-2 with one no-contest.

Cat Zingano released

Another featherweight fighter has been released from the UFC women’s division. It was announced earlier this week that Cat Zingano and the UFC have parted ways. Zingano last fought at UFC 232 last December. She was defeated by Megan Anderson via TKO when her eye was cut by Anderson’s toenail during a head kick. Zingano was released with a UFC record of 3-4.

UFC 241: Cormier vs Miocic 2 results

Stipe Miocic def. Daniel Cormier via TKO (Round 4)

Nate Diaz def. Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision

Paulo Costa def. Yoel Romero via unanimous decision

Sodiq Yusuff def. Gabriel Benitez via KO (Round 1)

Derek Brunson def. Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision