You’ll not be complaining about a lack of MMA in September with all the big MMA promotions lined up to host events over the course of this month, though you might have to pick and choose amongst your favorites since several of them have shows set to air at the same time.
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Friday, 5th September – Bellator 123: Curran Vs Freire
Where: Conneticut, USA
Bellator’s 11th season kicks off on Friday night with a featherweight title fight between current champ Pat Curran and tournament winner Patricio Freire, a rematch of their 2013 encounter which Curran won by split decision.
Also on-board for the season premiere is Muhammed ‘King Mo’ lawal up against Dustin Jacoby, while Cheick Kongo Vs Lavar Johnson and Bobby Lashley Vs Josh Burns completes the main card.
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Friday, 5th September – UFC Fight Night 50: Jacare Vs Mousasi
Where: Conneticut, USA
It just so happens that the UFC have opted to field their 50th ‘Fight Night’ event on Friday night just a few miles away from Bellator’s show, bringing a middleweight match-up between Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Gegard Mousasi with them for this head-to-head encounter.
Alistair Overeem Vs Ben Rothwell serves as the co-main event here, while Joe Lauzon Vs Michael Chiesa and Charles Oliveria Vs Nick Lentz also appear on their main-card line-up.
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Saturday, 6th September – Invicta FC 8: Waterson Vs Tamada
Where: Kansas City, USA
Invicta FC 8 will be the first that falls under their new deal with the UFC which will see the show air live on the ‘UFC Fight Pass’ service, and to mark the occasion they are delivering two title fights.
Headlining the show, atomweight champion Michelle Waterson will look to defend her title for the first time against Yasuko Tamada, while in the co-main event the vacant strawweight belt is up for grabs when Stephanie Eggink fights Katja Kankaanpaa.
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Friday, 12th September – ONE FC 20: Rise Of The Kingdom
Where: Cambodia
ONE FC will crown a flyweight champion on 12th September in Cambodia when Adriano Moraes fights Geje Eustaquio.
Meanwhile in the co-main event Caros Fedor and Vuyisile Colossa will fight for a second time in the ONE FC cage after Colossa won their first bout by unanimous decision back in December.
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Friday, 12th September – Bellator 124: Newton Vs Beltran
Where: Michigan, USA
Bellator’s light-heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton will attempt to defend his title against Joey Beltran who’s coming off a submission win over Vladimir Matyushenko.
Among the other notable bouts on the main card is Ryan Couture’s Bellator debut against John Schulz.
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Saturday, 13th September – BAMMA 16: Daley Vs da Rocha
UK promotion BAMMA are back on September 13th with man of many promotions Paul Daley main eventing versus Marinho Moreira da Rocha.
In the co-main event Mansour ‘Tarzan’ Barnaoui looks to go three fights unbeaten for the promotion against the debuting Michael Brightmon.
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Saturday, 13th September – UFC Fight Night 51: Arlvoski Vs Silva II
Where: Brazilia, Brazil
The UFC are also hosting a card on September 13th, as they head back to what almost feels like their second home in Brazil with a rematch between Andrei Arlovski and Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva taking top billing.
Co-main eventing this show is Brazil’s own Gleison Tibau who squares up to Piotr Hallman who’s lost only one of his last 12 fights.
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Saturday 13th September: WSOF 13: Moraes Vs Hill
Where: Pennsylvania, USA
Believe it or not there’s a 3rd notable MMA event on this night as World Series Of Fighting also have a show scheduled to air on NBC Sports.
Not much to write home about on the main card here though other than the main event between WSOF regular Marlon Moraes and the undefeated Josh Hill.
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Friday, 19th September: Bellator 125: Manhoef Vs Marshall
Where: California, USA
Bellator 125 sees grizzled veteran Melvin Manhoef making his promotional debut against Doug Marshall who returns after a lengthy suspension following a failed drugs test last year.
James Irvin was originally scheduled to fight in the co-main event, but he’s out injured so Brett Cooper now steps in to fight Brian Rogers.
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Saturday, 20th September: UFC Fight Night 52: Hunt Vs Nelson
Where: Saitama, Japan
The UFC are back in Japan on September 20th for ‘UFC Fight Night 52’ and they’re bringing with them former PRIDE star Mark Hunt who’ll be fighting Roy Nelson in the show’s headline attraction.
Takanori Gomi goes up against current Lightweight No.9 Myles Jury in the co-feature while Yoshihiro Akiyama Vs Amir Sadollah is notable for both men having been out of action for two years, and Miesha Tate welcomes the ‘Queen Of Pancrase’ Rin Nakai to the UFC.
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Friday, 26th September: Titan FC 30: Brilz Vs Magalhaes
Where: Texas, USA
Titan FC have been putting on some interesting fights of late and that continues in their 30th event with former UFC fighters Jason Brilz and Vinny Magalhaes taking center-stage.
Elsewhere, two other former UFC fighters who’ve so far picked up a win apiece in TFC since leaving the promotion, Dave Herman and Walt Harris will lock horns in the co-main event.
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Friday, 26th September: Bellator 126: Shlemenko Vs Halsey
Where: Pheonix, USA
Alexander Shlemenko moves back down to middleweight to defend his title against Brandon Halsey at Bellator 126 after an ill-advised jaunt up to 205lbs where he was quickly submitted by Tito Ortiz.
Also slated for this show is a lightweight encounter between Bellator veterans Patricky Freire and Marcin Held.
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Saturday, 27th September: UFC 178: Johnson Vs Cariaso:
Where: Las Vegas, USA
Finally, September wraps up with UFC 178 on pay-per-view which had at one point been earmarked to be among the biggest shows of the year with Jones Vs Gustafsson / Cormier headlining, but instead an injury call-off means it’s now fronted by Demetrious Johnson’s latest flyweight title defense against Chris Cariaso.
The rest of the card is stacked with Donald Cerrone welcoming Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez to the UFC in the co-main event and Conor McGregor facing his toughest test yet in the shape of Dustin Poirier.
That’s not all though with Tim Kennedy fighting Yoel Romero, Cat Zingano returning in a tough encounter with Amanda Nunes and former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz finally making his way back to competing in the headline feature of the preliminary card against Takeya Mizugaki.
