UFC/MMA Schedule for 2019/2020
Since its 1993 debut in the US, UFC has gone ahead to hold over 400 events. The company which organizes MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) events has grown over time thanks to the huge customer base that it has acquired through the years. The events have included notable names such as Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Brock Lesnar and many more. Fighters from all over the world have had a shot in the cage and fans all over the world have come to fall in love with the sport.
What makes the sport special? Well, as the name suggests, Mixed Martial Arts involve a combination of different styles such as boxing through punches, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through joint locks, chokes among other techniques, judo through throws and takedowns, karate, Muay Thai through use of hands, elbows, legs, and knees, and finally wrestling. There are rules on the sport where styles like biting, hair pulling, eyes gouging, head butts, and other styles are not allowed.
But do people understand the difference between UFC and MMA? Here is the difference. UFC is a company organizing MMA. MMA is a sport that involves a combination of martial arts. Players like Conor McGregor play MMA under the UFC. In simple terms, Messi is a football player of Barcelona FC. The sport he plays is football but the company/organization that organizes the football he plays at Barcelona FC is the Spanish La Liga. Hence, in our case, football represents MMA and La Liga represents the UFC.
Fighters will be divided into different divisions according to their weight and this has seen twelve classes provided as follows;
- Strawweight – Up to 115 lb (52.2 kg; 8.2st)
- Flyweight – From 115 lb (52.2 kg; 8.2st) to 125 lb (56.7 kg; 8.9st)
- Bantamweight – From 125 lb (56.7 kg; 8.9st) to 135 lb (61.2 kg; 9.6st)
- Featherweight – From 135 lb (61.2 kg; 9.6st) to 145 lb (65.8 kg; 10.4st)
- Lightweight – From 145 lb (65.8 kg; 10.4st) to 155 lb (70.3 kg; 11.1st)
- Welterweight – From 155 lb (70.3 kg; 11.1st) to 170 lb (77.1 kg; 12.1st)
- Middleweight – From 170 lb (77.1 kg; 12.1st) to 185 lb (83.9 kg; 13.2st)
- Light heavyweight – From 185 lb (83.9 kg; 13.2st) to 205 lb (93.0kg;14.6st)
- Heavyweight – From 205 lb (93.0kg;14.6st) to 265 lb (120.2 kg; 18.9st)
Women fighters have their titles on the first four divisions with no men fighters competing on the strawweight division.
How does a typical fight in UFC look like?
Players who are pitted against each other fight inside an octagon cage where they use the styles aforementioned in this piece. There are different bouts in the sport. A normal bout will consist of 3 rounds each at 5 minutes. A championship bout where the belt is involved goes up to 5 rounds each at 5 minutes. Winners are declared on the following instances; knockout, submission, retirement, a decision from judges, forfeiting, and/or forfeiting.
With many fans looking forward to fights, the UFC releases schedules on the dates, time, venues, and the channel of airing the events it holds. In a year, UFC hosts over 40 events and early this year, UFC signed a 5-year $1.5 billion pact with ESPN, a Walt Disney’s multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service provider which would see the fights accessible through its platforms. 42 live events will be showcased this year by ESPN with 30 fights featuring a full card of 12 bouts, ESPN networks will air 10 events with all pay-per-view events. ESPN+, on the other hand, will broadcast 20 events together with all fights for ‘UFC on ESPN Fight Night’. Those that will be streamed will have the tag ‘UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night’. All these can be viewed on the ESPN app.
Where to watch UFC?
Contents
So for UFC on ESPN, here is a breakdown of the events with their networks;
| Fight Night | Platform | No. of events |
| UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night | ESPN+ | 20 |
| UFC on ESPN Fight Night | ESPN Networks | 10 |
| UFC PPV Fights | ESPN Networks | 12 |
ESPN charges will be as follows;
- New ESPN+ subscribers – $79.99 (One year of service inclusive of UFC PPV)
- Existing ESPN+ subscribers – $59.99 (Pay-per-view package)
- ESPN+ per month package – $4.99
With the breakdown of events, here are some of the terminologies you will come across;
- Pay Per View (PPV) – These are numbered events such as UFC 196 which pitted Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. It is normally headlined as a title fight. They are poised to attract more fans mainly due to the popularity of the players hence the commercializing.
Some fights may also be used for promotions due to the increased views all over the world.
- Fight Night – Involves less highly ranked fighters’ events and are aired at subsided charges or free as opposed to numbered events/PPV.
The following is the schedule released at the start of this year inclusive of the past fights over the year; (The schedule involves only MMA/UFC)
A point to note is that the schedule is released in four schedules over the year with the date of the bout, event, and venue/location as follows;
Full UFC Schedule
1st Quarter (January 19th – March 30th)
Date Event Venue/Location
January 19th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY
January 26th UFC 233 (PPV) Honda Center – Anaheim, CA
February 2nd UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Brazil (ESPN+ streaming all bouts)
February 9th UFC 234 (PPV) Rod Laver Arena – Melbourne, VIC
February 17th UFC on ESPN Fight Night Talking Stick Resort Arena – Phoenix
(early prelims – streamed live on ESPN+)
(prelims + main card – ESPN & ESPN Deportes)
February 23rd UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night The O2 Arena – Prague, Czech Republic
March 2nd UFC 235 (PPV) T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
March 9th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Intrust Bank Arena – Wichita, KS
March 16th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night The O2 Arena – London, England
March 23rd UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
March 30th UFC on ESPN Fight Night Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA
The first quarter’s Fights of the Night were as follows;
January 20th – Hernandez vs. Cerrone
February 10th – Adesanya vs. Silva
February 18th – Barberena vs. Luque
March 3rd – Garbrandt vs. Munhoz
March 10th – Lewis vs. Dos Santos
March 16th – Till vs. Masvidal
March 24th – Mitchell vs. Moffett
March 30th – Gaethje vs. Barboza
Some of the best fights for this quarter included;
- UFC on ESPN Fight Night – Barberena vs. Luque
- UFC 235 – Garbrandt vs. Munhoz
- UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night – Verrons vs. Hernandez
- UFC 234 – Silva vs. Adesanya
The second quarter kicked off from April – June and the following were the schedules;
2nd Quarter (April 23rd – June 29th)
Date Event Venue/Location
April 13th UFC 236 (PPV) State Farm Arena – Atlanta, GA
April 20th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Yubileyny Sports Palace – Saint Petersburg
April 27th UFC on ESPN Fight Night BB&T Center – Sunrise, FL
May 4th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Canadian Tire Center – Ottawa, Canada
May 11th UFC 237 (PPV) Jeunesse Arena, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
May 18th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Blue Cross Arena – Rochester, NY
June 1st UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Ericsson Globe – Stockholm
June 8th UFC 238 (PPV) United Center – Chicago, IL
June 22nd UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Bon Secours Wellness Arena – Greenville, SC
June 29th UFC on ESPN Fight Night Target Center – Minneapolis, MN
The Fight of the Night in this quarter went to;
April 14th – Holloway vs. Poirier & Adesanya vs. Gastelum
April 20th – Tsarukyan vs. Makhachev
April 28th – Perry vs. Oliveira
May 5th – Iaquinta vs. Cerrone
May 12th – Namajunas vs. Andrade
May 19th – Eubanks vs. Ladd
June 9th – Ferguson vs. Cerrone
June 22nd – Winn vs. Spicely
Some of the high profile fights on the quarter were;
- UFC 235 – Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith
- UFC 236 – Holloway vs. Poirier 2 & Adesanya vs. Gastelum
- UFC 237 – Namajunas vs. Andrade
- UFC 238 – Valentina Shevchenko vs. Jessica Eye
The third quarter kicked off from July – September and the schedule was as follows;
3rd Quarter (July 6th – September 28th)
Date Event Venue/Location
July 6th UFC 239 (PPV) T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
July 13th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Golden 1 Center – Sacramento, CA
July 20th UFC on ESPN Fight Night AT&T Center – San Antonio, TX
July 27th UFC 240 (PPV) Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
August 3rd UFC on ESPN Fight Night Prudential Center – Newark, NJ
August 10th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Antel Arena – Montevideo
August 17th UFC 241 (PPV) Honda Center – Anaheim, CA
August 31st UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Shenzhen Dayun Arena – Shenzhen, China
Sept 7th UFC 242 (PPV) The Arena – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Sept 14th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC
Sept 21st UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Arena Ciudad de Mexico – Mexico City
Sept 28th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Royal Arena – Copenhagen
The Fights of the Night of this quarter were on the following bouts;
July 21st – Bautista vs. Soo Son
July 28th – Figueiredo vs. Pantoja
August 3rd – Shevchenko vs. Pudilova
August 11th – Perry vs. Luque
August 18th – Costa vs. Romero
August 31st – Batgerel vs. Heili
Sept 15th – Connelly vs. Pereira
Sept 22nd – Grasso vs. Esparza
Some of the top fights on this quarter included;
July 6th UFC 239 Jan Blachowicz vs. Luke Rockhold
July 6th UFC 239 Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm
The fourth-quarter schedule (of October – December) was also released recently and here is how the bouts are scheduled;
4th Quarter (October 5th – December 21st)
Date Event Venue/Location
Oct 5th UFC 243 (PPV) Marvel Stadium – Melbourne, VIC
Oct 12th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL
Oct 18th UFC on ESPN2 Fight Night TD Garden – Boston, MA
Oct 26th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Singapore Indoor Stadium – Kallang, Singapore
Nov 2nd UFC 244 (PPV) Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
Nov 9th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night CSKA Arena – Moscow, Russia
Nov 17th UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Ibirapuera Gymnasium – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Dec 7th UFC on ESPN Fight Night Capital One Arena – Washington, DC
Dec 14th UFC 245 (PPV) T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
Dec 21st UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night Sajik Arena, Busan
With the full schedule out, below are some of the fighters to look out for in the 2019 season;
Breakout UFC Fighters
- Vicente Luque
He stands as one of the underrated fighters but his current form has been pleasing with 10 wins out of 12. He has finished nine of his opponents and is skilled both in knockouts and chokes. One of his big test to look out for is his bout with Stephen Thompson at UFC 244. If somehow, he manages to beat him, he stands a high chance of winning the title.
- Zabit Magomedsharipov
A close friend to Khabib who has come out as a greatly-skilled and exciting fighter. He has a good record standing at 17-1with no defeat as yet on the UFC. He has had high-profile fights over his career and passed the tests.
- Islam Makhachev
Also a friend to Khabib, Islam has been touted as a future champion due to his all-rounded game and a good record at 18-1. Not many high-profile fights under his belt yet, but with time, Islam is expected to make those big moves.
- Johnny Walker
The hilarious Johnny Walker knows when it means business. He is better known for his knockout record where in less than 3 minutes, he knocked out three opponents. He is touted for a title shot. Only time will tell
According to Tapology, the following are the best 10 UFC fights of 2019 so far.
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Israel Adesanya – Israel wins through a unanimous decision
- Barberena vs. Luque – Luque wins through a knockout
- Holloway vs. Poirier II – Poirier wins through a unanimous decision
- Garbrandt vs. Munhoz – Munhoz wins through punches and knockout
- Cerrone vs. Hernandez – Cerrone wins through punches, head kick, and knockout
- Till vs. Masvidal – Masvidal wins through punches and knockout
- Price vs. Means – Masvidal wins through punches and knockout
- Lawler vs. Askren – Askren wins through bulldog choke and submission
- Silva vs. Adesanya – Adesanya wins through a unanimous decision
- Ferguson vs. Cerrone – Ferguson wins through doctor stoppage from eye injury and knockout
[kkstarratings]