Dana White has announced a number of fights for UFC Saudi Arabia, including a middleweight main event between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev.
UFC Saudi Arabia will take place on June 22 and air live and free on ABC.
Whittaker (25-7 MMA), the promotion’s former middleweight champion, most recently competed at last month’s UFC 298 event, where he scored a unanimous decision victory over Paulo Costa. Prior to that win, ‘The Reaper’ was coming off a TKO loss at the hands of reigning 185lbs champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA) was last seen in action at October’s UFC 294 event in Abu Dhabi, where he picked up a majority decision win over former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. ‘Borz’ has gone a perfect 7-0 since joining the UFC ranks in July of 2020.
UFC Saudi Arabia will be co-headlined by a key heavyweight bout featuring Alexander Volkov taking on Sergei Pavlovich.
Volkov (37-10 MMA) will enter the contest on a three-fight winning streak, his most recent being a submission victory over Tai Tuivasa in September of last year. The former Bellator heavyweight champion has gone 4-1 over his past five Octagon appearances overall.
Meanwhile, Sergei Pavlovich (18-2 MMA) will be competing for the first time since suffering a knockout loss to Tom Aspinall in a fight for the promotion’s interim heavyweight title at UFC 295. That setback had snapped the Russian’s six-fight winning streak.
Also announced for the UFC’s debut in Saudi Arabia were the following three fights:
Welterweight Bout: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Light Heavyweight Bout: Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdimir
Light Heavyweight Bout: Ihor Potieria vs. Shara Magomedov
Are you excited for July’s UFC Saudi Arabia fight card? Who do you think will emerge victorious in the main event between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev?
