UFC fight schedule 2018: Jon Jones set for return, Cyborg-Nunes superfight awaits

The UFC schedule is coming to a close as the year comes to an end

By Brandon Wise

Dec 9, 2018 at 11:34 am ET • 2 min read

UFC is off to another busy year after kicking off 2018 with a huge PPV in UFC 220 where heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic set the title defense record for the division with a unanimous decision win over Francis Ngannou. Then, Cris Cyborg made lightwork of challenger Yana Kunitskaya to retain her women's featherweight title while Brian Ortega became the first person to stop Frankie Edgar in the co-main event. Finally at UFC 223, when all else failed, Khabib Nurmagomedov was finally crowned the lightweight king when he dismantled Al Iaquinta in Brooklyn, New York.

Can't get enough UFC? Subscribe to our podcast In This Corner with Brian Campbell where we break down everything you need to know in the Octagon.

We also got to see one of the top middleweight fights of the year when Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero battled over 25 grueling minutes of action in Chicago at UFC 225. Now the company heads into its summer schedule hoping to keep its marquee PPV event of the year intact.

In July, we saw the first heavyweight superfight when Miocic took on light heavyweight king Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title. That showdown concluded with Cormier sending the UFC world into shock when he knocked out Miocic in the first round to become the promotions second simultaneous two-division champion in history.

In September, we saw welterweight champion Tyron Woodley assert his dominance over the 170-pound division with a terrific display against newcomer Darren Till.

The month of October brought us the much-anticipated return of Conor McGregor to the Octagon after nearly two years away as he challenged lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor was unsuccessful in his venture to regain the lightweight belt, and then, chaos ensued afterwards at UFC 229. In November, Daniel Cormier made the first defense of his heavyweight championship in the main event of UFC 230 in Madison Square Garden against power-puncher Derrick Lewis. Cormier made quick work of his challenger, submitting him easily in the second round.

December began to bring the year to a close with a bang, as UFC 231 in Toronto saw Valentina Shevchenko defeat Joanna Jedrzejczyk to finally capture gold as she claimed the vacant women's flyweight title. The main event of that show gave us what very well may go down as the fight of the year as Max Holloway brutally handed Brian Ortega the first loss of his career and retained the featherweight title in the process. Now, all that's left on PPV before the year comes to an end is a superfight between women's featherweight titleholder Cris Cyborg and bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes for the former's belt. Oh ... and the main event of UFC 232 brings us the return of Jon Jones, as well, as he and Alexander Gustafsson will run back their classic from 2015.

Here's the full schedule remaining in the final month of 2018.