Fights on Tap: Smith vs. Walker among 17 UFC bouts announced

Anthony Smith at UFC Vegas 15 in 2020. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Check out all the fights announced over the past week in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.

Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.

The UFC had a hit with UFC 284 this past Saturday. Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski exceeded expectations in their champ vs. champ fight. Yair Rodríguez shined against Josh Emmett to claim the interim UFC featherweight championship. And Jack Della Maddalena earned another first-round finish over who was arguably his toughest test thus far in Randy Brown. Plus, we have some stellar performances from Joshua Culibao, Kleydson Rodrigues and Loma Lookboonmee that were worth mentioning. All in all, UFC 284 delivered. With that event now over, let’s take a look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.

The UFC either announced or finalized 17 fights this week, and a light heavyweight scrap is set for a Fight Night headliner.

Anthony Smith is gearing up for his return to the Octagon. After losing out on a fight with newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill, ‘Lionheart’ now faces Johnny Walker in a UFC Fight Night scheduled for May 13. Meni Mayer of MMA Ideas was first to report the pairing.

Smith has not fought since losing to Magomed Ankalaev by second-round TKO at UFC 277 this past July. The one-time title challenger suffered a broken ankle, which required surgery and sidelined him for the rest of 2022. Meanwhile, Walker has earned back-to-back finishes of Ion Cutelaba and Paul Craig at UFC 279 and UFC 283, respectively.

UFC Vegas 69 — February 18

• Jim Miller vs. Alexander Hernandez — lightweight (First rep. by Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
• Jéssica Andrade vs. Erin Blanchfield — women’s flyweight

UFC Vegas 71 — March 11

• Carlston Harris vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov — welterweight (First rep. by MMA Fight Universe and Alex Behunin of MMA Mania)
• Raphael Assunçâo vs. Davey Grant — bantamweight (First rep. by Ag Fight)

UFC 286 — March 18

• Chris Duncan vs. Omar Morales — lightweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)

UFC San Antonio — March 25

• Na Liang vs. Brogan Walker — women’s flyweight
• Vinicius Salvador vs. Victor Altamirano — flyweight (First rep. by Zeca Azevedo of Globo)

UFC 287 — April 8

• Sam Hughes vs. Jacqueline Amorim — women’s strawweight (First rep. by Meni Mayer of MMA Ideas)

UFC Kansas City — April 15

• Brandon Royval vs. Matheus Nicolau — flyweight (First rep. by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated)
• Clay Guida vs. Rafa García — lightweight (First rep. by Bloodline Combat Sports Agency)

UFC Fight Night — April 22

• Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva — middleweight (First rep. by Laerte Viana)
• Batgerel Danaa vs. Brady Hiestand — bantamweight (Danaa vs. Hiestand was already confirmed, but shifted from UFC Kansas City to UFC on ESPN+ 18, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
• Ricky Glenn vs. Christos Giagos — lightweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)

UFC Fight Night — April 29

• Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Marcos Rogério de Lima — heavyweight (First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes)

UFC 288 — May 6

• Bryce Mitchell vs. Jonathan Pearce — featherweight (First rep. by BRKRZ)

UFC Fight Night — May 13

• Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Tainara Lisboa — women’s flyweight (First rep. by Iridium Sports Agency)
• Anthony Smith vs. Johnny Walker — light heavyweight (First rep. by Meni Mayer of MMA Ideas)

Announced Bellator fights

Bellator 292 — March 10

• Michael Page vs. Goiti Yamauchi — welterweight
• Islam Mamedov vs. Shamil Nikaev — lightweight
• Khalid Murtazaliev vs. Tony Johnson — middleweight
• Julius Anglickas vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov — light heavyweight
• Bobby Seronio III vs. Alberto Garcia — bantamweight

Bellator Paris — May 12

• Yves Landu vs. Estabili Amato — featherweight

Announced Cage Warriors fights

Cage Warriors 150 — March 17

• Awa Sow vs. Kate Bacik — women’s bantamweight

Cage Warriors 151 — March 24

• Stipe Brčić vs. Jhonata Silva — flyweight
• Pav Sahota vs. Sam Kelly — bantamweight
• Shawn Da Silva vs. Kiru Singh Sahota — flyweight

Cage Warriors 152 — April 15

• Antonio Sheldon vs. Orlando Wilson Prins — featherweight
• Bailey Gilbert vs. Jordy Bakkes — featherweight

Cage Warriors 153 — April 29

• Paddy McCorry vs. Angus Hewett — middleweight
• Adam Darby vs. Jack Tucker — welterweight

Announced Invicta FC fights

Invicta FC 52 — March 15

• Valesca Machado vs. Danni McCormack — women’s strawweight
• Karolina Wójcik vs. Ediana Silva — women’s strawweight
• Montserrat Rendon vs. Alexa Conners — women’s bantamweight
• Amber Leibrock vs. Ramona Pascual — women’s featherweight
• Sayury Cañon vs. Amanda Macioce — women’s strawweight

Announced KSW fights

KSW 79 — February 25

• Dominik Humburger vs. Nemanja Nikolić — welterweight
• Ramzan Jembiev vs. Murilo Delfino — lightweight

KSW 80 — March 17

• Robert Ruchała vs. Dawid Śmiełowski — featherweight