UFC announces return to Charlotte for event in May

The UFC made an exciting announcement for their fans in North Carolina as they will host an upcoming Fight Night event at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on May 13.

This is great news as it shows that the promotion seems committed to hosting events outside the Apex again. Although the venue has been convenient for the promotion, it served its purpose during the pandemic. It can be argued that since arenas began allowing full capacity, the Apex has taken away from the overall atmosphere and fanfare that fans have become accustomed to when attending UFC events.

The event will be headlined by a light heavyweight clash between No.5 ranked Anthony Smith and No.7 ranked Johnny Walker. Based on the current status of the other contenders in the top-5, the bout could have major implications for the winner as they could get one step closer to a title fight.

There will be plenty of other notable fighters competing at the event as the promotion recently announced a bout between Daniel Rodriguez and exciting welterweight prospect Ian Garry. 'The Future' will be looking to remain unbeaten in his MMA career, while Rodriguez will look to bounce back from his submission loss to Neil Magny.

Other bouts scheduled for UFC Charlotte include Jailton Almeida vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a heavyweight bout, Court McGee vs. Matt Brown in a welterweight bout, and Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill in a strawweight bout.

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When is the next UFC event?

There won't be an event this weekend, but the promotion has an exciting event planned for next week as they host UFC 287 at the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami, Florida, on April 8.

The event will be headlined by the highly anticipated rematch between Israel Adesanya and middleweight champion Alex Pereira, and a welterweight bout between Gilbert Burns and 'BMF' title holder Jorge Masvidal. It will be a historic event for the city as it marks the promotion's first event in Miami since 2003.

'Izzy' will look to prove that he can beat 'Poatan', while the middleweight champion will look to make it 4-0 and end the rivalry with a clean sweep in both kickboxing and MMA.