Photos: Blackzilians.com

The UFC is working on a number of fights for July involving big names including Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, as well as former champions TJ Dillashaw and Holly Holm.

As reported on UFC Tonight and MMA Fighting Wednesday night, a number of fights are in the planning stages:

Former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw vs. Raphael Assuncao, a rematch of their 2013 fight that Assuncao won via close decision, is being targeted as the “main event” for the Fox Sports One portion of UFC 200. They are also planning on adding one more big-name fight to that card which will round out the five-fight PPV show.
 
Rumble Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira is being worked on for the company’s July 23rd show in Chicago, a big FOX show. After Teixeira’s recent quick win over Rashad Evans, he called out Johnson who was game for the fight. The winner would determine the No. 1 contender for the winner of the light heavyweight title unification bout between Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier at UFC 200. That fight could be part of the first Madison Square Garden show this fall.
 
Also in the works for that FOX Chicago show and a possible main event is former bantamweight champion Holly Holm vs. Valentina Shevchenko. Shevchenko had a 58-2-1 record as a kickboxer before going into MMA, where she is now 12-2. However, she did lose her last UFC fight to Amanda Nunes.
 
As if that wasn’t enough for the FOX Chicago show, Globo reported Wednesday that former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gil Melendez will return after a year off due to testing positive for PEDs to face Edson Barboza, he of the recent big win over Anthony Pettis.
 
The company also announced that UFC 201 would take place on July 30th in Atlanta, GA, with an anticipated main event of welterweight champion Robbie Lawler vs. Tyron Woodley.

​We’ll talk more about these fights and the rest of the news in wrestling and MMA on Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio.