The final month of the year has arrived with plenty more MMA action to get to right up until the year finally draws to a close, so let’s get right to it.
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Friday, December 2nd: Bellator 166 – Dantas Vs Warren 2
Where: Oklahoma, USA
Bellator ramp up their fight schedule dramatically in December, starting with the curious decision to host two shows in two nights at the same venue in Oklahoma, with the first show being headlined by a bantamweight title rematch between current champion Eduardo Dantas and Joe Warren.
The main card will also feature the undefeated A.J. Mckee taking on late replacement Ray Wood, while Marcos Galvao fights L.C. Davis.
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Saturday, December 3rd: Bellator 167 – Taimango Vs Caldwell 2
Where: Oklahoma, USA
Back at it a day later, Bellator 167 has suffered some injury woes, which leaves a rematch between Darrion Caldwell and Joe Taimango as the main event.
Meanwhile, undefeated woman’s flyweight contender Ilia Macfarlane fights Emily Ducote in the co-main event of the evening.
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Saturday, December 3rd: TUF 24 Finale
Where: Las Vegas, USA
Also on Saturday night, The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale takes place in Las Vegas, with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson set to make his latest title defense against the winner of the latest season, Tim Elliott.
The co-main event finds two former flyweight title contenders, Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo, while Gray Maynard Vs Ryan Hall and Jorge Masvidal Vs Jake Ellenberger also feature on the main card.
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Friday, December 9th: UFC Fight Night 102 – Lewis vs Abdurakhimov
Where: Albany, USA
The UFC makes it’s next visit to the state of New York on a Friday night for UFC Fight Night 102, led by rising heavyweight contender Derrick ‘The Black Beast’ Lewis and Shamil Abdurakhimov.
Co-main event duties here fall to another heavyweight up and comer, Francis Nguanna Vs Anthony Hamilton, with Patrick Cummins also on-board against Gian Villante.
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Saturday, December 10th: UFC 206 – Holloway Vs Pettis
Where: Toronto, Canada
UFC 206 is the first of two PPV events in December from the promotion and after some late amendments to the line-up, an interim featherweight title fight between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis now takes headline duties in Toronto.
Donald Cerrone Vs Matt Brown in the co-main event looks like guaranteed fireworks, while Tim Kennedy Vs Kelvin Gastelum is a nice late addition to the main card line-up.
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Saturday, December 10th: Bellator 168 – Carvalho Vs Manhoef 2
Where: Florence, Italy
Belllator’s busy month continues with a trip to Italy for a rematch between Rafael Carvalho and Melvin Manhoef, after Carvalho won their original encounter by split decision earlier this year.
Alessio Sakara will also fight in his homeland against Joey Beltran in the co-main event.
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Friday, December 16th: Bellator 169 – King Mo Vs Ishii
Where: Dublin, Ireland
A week later Bellator show up in Dublin, Ireland with Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal moving up to heavyweight to fight Japan’s Satoshi Ishii.
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Saturday, December 17th: UFC On FOX 22 – PVZ Vs Waterson
Where: Sacremento, USA
A day later it’s the last UFC On FOX card of the year, headlined by two of the strawweight division’s most popular fighters, Paige VanZant and Michele Waterson.
The co-main event of the show will feature Urijah Faber’s retirement fight against Brad Pickett, while by way of contrast there’s also a battle of up and coming young talents when Sage Northcutt squares up to Mickey Gall.
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Thursday, December 29th: Rizin FF 3
Where: Saitama, Japan
Rizin 3’s main event will bring back feelings of nostalgia for long-time MMA fans with Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic set to fight Wanderlei Silva in the quarter-finals of the Japanese promotion’s open-weight grand-prix.
Another must-see quarter-final features the return of former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin who comes out of retirement to fight Amir Aliakbari.
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Friday, December 30th: UFC 207: Nunes Vs Rousey
Where: Las Vegas, USA
UFC superstar Ronda Rousey finally returns to action after a year out in the main event of UFC 207, attempting to win back the bantamweight title against current champion Amanda Nunes.
The co-main event also features title action, with bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz attempting to defend the belt against the hard-hitting Cody Garbrandt.
Also look out for a heavyweight title elimination rematch between former champions Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, plus Johny Hendricks Vs Neil Magny.
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Saturday, December 31st: Rizin FF 4
Where: Saitama, Japan
Rizin’s open-weight grand-prix concludes on New Years Eve, but also look out for Tatsuya Kawajiri fighting the 3-0 Kron Gracie on this card.
In addition, Charles ‘Krazyhorse’ Bennett will be back in the Rizin ring for an immediate rematch with Minoru Kimura, who he KO’d in just 7 seconds earlier this year, while the year’s most ludicrous freak-show fight sees Gabi Garcia fight 52 year-old former pro-wrestler turned politician Shinobu Kandori.
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Saturday, December 31st: WSOF 34 – Gaethje Vs Zeferino
Where: New York City, USA
In an ambitious move, World Series Of Fighting will host a New Years Eve event in New York City headlined by their lightweight champion Justin Gaethje’s latest title defense against Joao Zeferino.
Stacking the card, WSOF will also have welterweight champ Jon Fitch fighting Jake Shields in the co-main event, while middleweight title holder Dave Branch fights Louis Taylor.
