Israel Adesanya vs. Shara Magomedov is Official for UFC Riyadh

The UFC has officially revealed the full fight card for its return to Saudi Arabia. The UFC Fight Night event will take place at ANB Arena in Riyadh on Dec. 5. It'll be UFC's third visit to Saudi Arabia. 

This stacked card was announced during the broadcast of Saturday's UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.  The main event will feature an exciting five-round clash between two of the UFC's most unique strikers as Israel Adesanya (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) will go head-to-head with Sharabutdin Magomedov (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at 185 lbs.

Adesanya, a former two-time UFC middleweight champion will put his No. 10 ranking on the line against the Russian. He'll also be looking to bounce back from his four-fight losing streak.

Israel Adesanta avenged his losses against Alex Pereira with a spectacular knockout to reclaim his middleweight crown in 2023. But after that, he dropped the belt to Sean Strickland, losing a judges' decision in an upset, and later suffered stoppage losses to Dricus Du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov, and Joe Pyfer.

'The Pirate' will look to capitalise on the biggest opportunity of his career when he takes on 'The Last Stylebender'. Magomedov will try to build on his two-fight winning streak and break into UFC's middleweight rankings. After losing his '0' to Michael Page, Shara won back-to-back bouts against Marc-André Barriault and Michel Pereira. 

After UFC's announcement, Adesanya went over to X and posted a stylish edit and captioned: "I don’t need much. But Imma have it all!"

UFC Riyadh Also Features Ian Machado Garry, Yaroslav Amosov and Islam Dulatov

In the co-main event, Ian Machado Garry (17-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) will take on Yaroslav Amosov (30-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a 5-round bout at welterweight. 

The No. 2 UFC welterweight contender recently fought for the title against Islam Makhachev at UFC 330, but failed to achieve the ultimate dream. He'll try to maintain his place in the title picture by taking on the highly touted former Bellator welterweight champion. 'Dynamo' will step into the octagon for his third fight; He has made an impressive start to his UFC career by finishing Neil Magny and Joel Álvarez.

Also on the main card, we'll get to see the return of Islam Dulatov (12-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC). The fashion model-turned-MMA fighter made a sensational UFC debut at UFC 318 against Adam Fugitt. He'll get a bigger spotlight on the main card of the Riyadh event when he fights Levan Chokheli.

UFC Lines Up Another Loaded Card For Arabian Visit

Recently, we've seen UFC build cards with more starpower in their Arabian events than some of their traditional numbered events. This card is no different. Along with the aforementioned fights, the card will also showcase a heavyweight showdown between No. 14 contender Sergei Spivac and No. 10-ranked Mario Pinto. 

Two weeks before this event, UFC will make its way to Qatar as well. The Qatar event has an even more blockbuster card that presents Jiri Prochazka, Aljamain Sterling, Dan Hooker, Brian Ortega, and more.