Dana White has announced three huge fights slated for later this year.
As summer approaches the UFC is heading into the busiest time of the year. International Fight Week will kick off the summer on July 8 with a huge card, and now that UFC is preparing for an even busier rest of the year. UFC President Dana White took to social media on Wednesday to announce three big main event matchups that will be headlining cards later this year. The bouts he announced are Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov on Aug 5 in Nashville, Max Holloway vs. The Korean Zombie on Aug. 26 in Singapore, and Ciryl Gane vs. Serghei Spivac on Sept. 2 in Paris.
UFC has begun the scheduling for the second half of 2023. In addition to the events that seem to pop up every year including Madison Square Garden in November, Abu Dhabi in October, and the end-of-the-year card in December, it seems that UFC is adding several fight night events.
Dana White announced a triplet of UFC main event fights including a former champion
Sandhagen will be taking on Umar Nurmagomedov on August 5 in Nashville Tennessee. The last time the UFC held an event in Nashville was back in March 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Sandhagen finds himself in the number four spot in the official rankings. He could be next for the bantamweight title shot following the fight between champion Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley. Instead of waiting it out he has chosen to take another fight and will be taking on the dangerous Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov has won all four of his UFC fights so far in his undefeated at 16-0.
Music City gets their main event 🤩
🔥 @CorySandhagen vs @UNmgdv at #UFCNashville 🔥 pic.twitter.com/L8kPigUG6M
— UFC (@ufc) June 15, 2023
Holloway taking on Jung Chan Sung is a fight that both men asked for. Sung is at the end of his career and wants to go out on top by taking out a former champion. This will be the UFC‘s return to Singapore which they also have not visited since before the pandemic began.
Fan favorites set to headline #UFCSingapore 👀@BlessedMMA and @KoreanZombieMMA close the show on August 26th!#PassionMadePossible @VisitSingapore pic.twitter.com/5ZOT2NWGpU
— UFC (@ufc) June 15, 2023
The last of these matchups is UFC‘s return to Paris. The first event held in France after MMA had become legal in the country was in September of last year. Ciryl Gane headlined that event and will once again headline this event in his hometown. Looking to bounce back from his loss against Jon Jones, Gane will take on the streaking Serghei Spivac.
Your #UFCParis Main Event is OFFICIAL 🇫🇷@Ciryl_Gane and Sergei Spivak take center stage at the @Accor_Arena!
Tickets officially on sale Fri, June 23 | Pre-Register at https://t.co/3VJhIdQXsY pic.twitter.com/x7vM4nsnj0
— UFC (@ufc) June 15, 2023
The timing of these announcements has some fans questioning the motives of White. Conor McGregor has found himself in some trouble over the weekend as he is being accused of sexual assault by a fan at the Miami Heat game. Some belive this was a ply to take the limelight away from McGregor and shift focus to these big announcements.
