Khamzat Chimaev will take on Robert Whittaker in a middleweight No. 1 contender’s matchup, headlining the inaugural UFC event in Saudi Arabia on June 22.
UFC CEO Dana White revealed the main event and four additional fights scheduled for the UFC Saudi Arabia card on Wednesday night, airing on ABC in the United States.
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Alongside Chimaev vs. Whittaker, Sergei Pavlovich squares off against Alexander Volkov in a heavyweight co-main event.
Also featured is Kelvin Gastelum versus Daniel Rodriguez in a welterweight showdown, and Johnny Walker facing Volkan Oezdemir.
The final bout announced for the Saudi Arabia event pits Sharabutdin Magomedov, known as Shara Bullet, against Ihor Potieria in a light heavyweight matchup.
This event marks the beginning of a new partnership between the UFC and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expanding the promotion’s presence in the Middle East beyond its longstanding collaboration with Abu Dhabi.
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker
In the main event, Chimaev returns to competition for the first time since narrowly defeating former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a highly contested bout last October, which UFC CEO Dana White deemed a title eliminator. Despite this, the Chechen fighter is now set to face Whittaker in June.
Chimaev boasts an unblemished 13-0 record, including seven consecutive victories in the UFC.
Facing off against a former middleweight champion in Whittaker presents Chimaev with his toughest challenge to date. Whittaker, the Australian fighter, is fresh off an impressive win over Paulo Costa in his previous outing.
He secured the interim UFC Middleweight championship by defeating Yoel Romero at UFC 213 before being declared the undisputed title holder. However, Whittaker lost the belt in his first title defense, suffering a knockout defeat to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243. Despite a rematch effort at UFC 271, Whittaker was unable to reclaim the title, losing by unanimous decision to Adesanya.
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov
Pavlovich will try to bounce back after his loss to Tom Aspinall at UFC 295. The loss to the Englishman stopped his six-fight winning streak and denied him an interim UFC heavyweight championship in the process.
Volkov is on another trajectory, as he currently enjoys a three-fight winning streak. Interestingly enough, all three wins came after his loss to the aforementioned Aspinall.
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Gastelum won only 2 out of his last 5 fights. Most recently he tapped out to Sean Brady due to a kimura at UFC on ESPN 52. It’s a far cry from the days of his prime, as he’s a former title challenger, who was bested by Israel Adesanya.
Rodriguez is suffering a two-fight losing streak, which was preceded by a series of four wins in a row.
Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir
This will be Walker’s return to the Middle East region. At UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, his fight against Magomed Ankalaev was stopped and later declared due to an illegal knee strike. The cage-side doctor rendered Walker unable to continue, starting a controversy. The two of them met again at UFC Fight Night 234 with Walker suffering a ko loss in the second outing.
Oezdemir won two out of his last five bouts. Surprisingly, all three losses took place in Abu Dhabi. So the Swiss native isn’t a stranger to fighting in the Middle Eastern region. Most recently he submitted Bogdan Guskov at UFC Fight Night 226.
Shara Magomedov vs. Ihor Potieria
“Shara Bullet” is an unbeaten prospect, as he sports an unblemished 12 -0 record. He made his UFC debut back in October 2023, when he secured an Unanimous Decision win over Bruno Silva. This was the first time when he went the full 15-minute distance.
Potieria has a solid 21-5 record. Interestingly, between 2017 to 2021 he stacked up a 15-fight winning streak. The last win took place at the UFC Dana White Contender series, where he stopped Łukasz Sudolski. Since his promotional debut, he won two out of his last five fights.
More fights for UFC Saudi Arabia are expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks.
The current UFC Saudi Arabia lineup includes:
Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Johnny Walker
Shara Magomedov vs. Ihor Potieria
