Striker’s delight.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced during the UFC Vegas 124 broadcast that former two-time Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will return against “Shara Bullet” Shara Magomedov in the five-round main event of UFC Saudi Arabia on Sat., Dec. 5, 2026, inside ANB Arena in Riyadh.
The card’s co-main event will also be contested over five rounds as recent Welterweight title challenger Ian Machado Garry collides with former Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov.
Adesanya (24-6)
desperately needs a win after losing four consecutive fights. “The Last Stylebender” surrendered his Middleweight title to Sean Strickland before suffering three straight stoppage losses against Dricus Du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov and Joe Pyfer (watch highlights).
The 37-year-old hasn’t won since knocking out Alex Pereira to reclaim the Middleweight championship in April 2023 (watch highlights). This will also be Adesanya’s first appearance since leaving longtime head coach Eugene Bareman and City Kickboxing.
Magomedov (17-1), meanwhile, is riding back-to-back wins over Marc-Andre Barriault and Michel Pereira. “Shara Bullet” has compiled an impressive 6-1 UFC record, with his lone professional loss coming against Michael “Venom” Page in Saudi Arabia in February 2025.
This is easily the biggest opportunity of Magomedov’s career and a chance to add one of the greatest Middleweights of all time to his resume.
In the co-headliner, Garry (17-2) returns for the first time since unsuccessfully challenging Islam Makhachev for the Welterweight championship at UFC 330. Before that loss, “The Future” scored consecutive victories over Carlos Prates and Belal Muhammad.
Amosov (30-1) has looked phenomenal since joining UFC, submitting Neil Magny (watch highlights) and Joel Alvarez in his first two Octagon appearances. The former Bellator Welterweight champion’s only professional defeat came against Jason Jackson in Nov. 2023.
UFC Saudi Arabia will serve as the promotion’s final Fight Night event of 2026, taking place one week before UFC 335 in Las Vegas.
Check out the currently announced lineup below:
Israel Adesanya vs. Shara Magomedov
Ian Machado Garry vs. Yaroslav Amosov
Islam Dulatov vs. Levan Chokheli
Akbar Abdullaev vs. Mairon Santos
Serghei Spivac vs. Mario Pinto
Bruno Silva vs. Jafel Filho
Pavel Andrusca vs. Mahammadali Osmanli
JunYong Park vs. Marco Tulio
Matthieu Duclos vs. Modestino Rodrigues
Magomed Tuchalov vs. Ion Cuțelaba
Abdul Hussein vs. Hecher Sosa
Ivan Gnizditskiy vs. Uran Satybaldiev
To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.
