UFC

UFC Saudi Arabia Officially Announced for December 5

After some time of speculation, UFC Saudi Arabia has been officially announced for Dec. 5. Israel Adesanya vs. Shara Magomedov serves as main event, alongside Ian Machado Garry vs. Yaroslav Amosov.

ByThomas Albano

After all the mystery and speculation surrounding the event, UFC Saudi Arabia will go down on December 5 in Riyadh, serving as the final UFC Fight Night event for the UFC in 2026 — one week before UFC 335.

The event had been linked to both November 28 and December 5 dates, but it had also been put into question due to the tensions, conflict, and war in the Middle East.

The UFC officially announced the card and its headlining matchups as part of the UFC Vegas 124 broadcast.

The main event will see former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya take on Shara “Bullet” Magomedov.

Adesanya has lost four straight and five of his last six, with this skid stretching back to his middleweight title loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281. His last win came in their UFC 287 rematch.

Magomedov is 17-1 in professional MMA, including a 6-1 UFC record. Since his sole loss to Michael “Venom” Page, he’s rebounded with decision wins over Marc-Andre Barriault and Michel Pereira.

The co-main event will feature a significant welterweight clash as Ian Machado Garry takes on Yaroslav Amosov.

This will be Garry’s first fight since his unsuccessful challenge to welterweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 330. Amosov, the former Bellator welterweight champion, is 2-0 in the UFC with submission wins over Neil Magny and Joel Alvarez.