UFC Announces First Six Fights For July Abu Dhabi Fight Card
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: Robert Whittaker of New Zealand prepares to face Ikram Aliskerov of ... More Russia in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
The UFC is back in Abu Dhabi on July 26 for a UFC Fight Night card at Etihad Arena. UFC CEO Dana White recently announced the first six matchups for that fight card, including the main event, which pits former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker against the rising Reinier de Ridder. In the evening's co-main event, Aaron Pico makes his UFC debut opposite Movsar Evloev in a five-round featherweight matchup.
Robert Whittaker vs. Renier de Ridder - Middleweight
Movsar Evloev vs. Aaron Pico - Featherweight
Petr Yan vs. Marcus McGhee - Bantamweight
Bryce Mitchell vs. Said Nurmagomedov - Bantamweight
Shara Magomedov vs. Marc-Andre Barriault - Middleweight
Nikita Krylov vs. Bogdan Guskov - Light Heavyweight
Saturday, July 26, 2025
Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi
Main Card: 3:00 p.m. ET
Preliminary Card: 12:00 p.m. ET
Inglewood, CA - January 18: Reinier de Ridder (blue) celebrates his victory over Kevin Holland (red) ... More during their bout at UFC 311 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on Saturday, January 18, 2024. de Ridder won the fight by first round submission. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Whittaker (26-8) is the No. 5 fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings. Whittaker is 15-4 with the UFC since June 2014. His only losses have come to Israel Adesanya, Dricus du Plessis, and Khamzat Chimaev. Adesanya is a former UFC middleweight champ. Du Plessis is the current UFC 185-pound champion, and Chimaev is scheduled to face Du Plessis in a title fight at UFC 319 in August. In short, the 34-year-old is the gate keeper to the elite of the division.
Whittaker is coming off a nasty submission loss to Chimaev at UFC 308 in October 2024.
De Ridder (20-2) has been climbing the UFC middleweight ladder since he joined the promotion after holding the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight titles. The 34-year-old is No. 12 in the UFC 185-pound division. He is 3-0 with the promotion with stoppage wins over Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland and Bo Nickal. His win over Nickal was his most recent victory, coming in May of this year.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 07: Movsar Evloev of Russia looks on prior to a featherweight fight ... More during UFC 310 at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by)
Evloev (19-0) made his UFC debut in April 2019 in a featherweight contest against Choi Seung-woo. At the time he stepped into the UFC Octagon for the first time, Evloev was 10-0 and coming off a defense of the M-1 Global bantamweight crown. Evloev, defeated Choi via unanimous decision.
Over the next five years, Evloev would climb the featherweight rankings, facing progressively tougher opponents under the UFC banner. He is 9-0 under the UFC banner. In his most recent outing, the 31-year-old defeated former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling by decision at UFC 310 in a 145-pound scrap. Evloev is the No. 4 ranked UFC featherweight.
Pico (13-4) joined the UFC as a free agent earlier this year. Pico was with Bellator for his entire MMA career before departing as a free agent. The 28-year-old had an up-and-down run with the promotion, but he enters UFC Abu Dhabi on a three-fight winning streak. His record in his past 10 fights is 9-1. His only loss during that span, which dates back to January 2020, is a October 2022 TKO loss to Jeremy Kennedy in a fighter were the doctor stopped the bout because Pico dislocated his shoulder.
We will have more on the UFC Abu Dhabi fight card as fight night nears.
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