Umar Nurmagomedov will return as the co-main for UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25th, 2026.
Overnight, the UFC made the big announcement: the No. 2 ranked bantamweight Nurmagomedov will face No. 9 ranked David Martinez at UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Rountree at Etihad Arena.
This will be Nurmagomedov’s first fight since a dominant decision win over Deiveson Figueiredo back in January. Umar is currently on a two fight win streak following his only loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311 back in January 2025.
After an early career of fighting just once or twice a year, Nurmagomedov got three fights in over twelve months, and this latest bout against Martinez down the ranks shows that the Dagestani fighter wants to stay active rather than wait for a title shot.
David Martinez is 14-1 in MMA and 3-0 in the UFC since joining off a Dana White’s Contender Series win back in October 2024. Beating Rob Font and Marlon Vera have him already in the bantamweight top ten, and we’ll see how he handles an extremely tough opponent like Umar Nurmagomedov.
UFC Abu Dhabi has filled up fast and will be headlined by former UFC light heavyweight champ Magomed Ankalaev against Khalil Rountree. Ankalaev hasn’t competed since losing the belt to Alex Pereira in October 2025. With Pereira moving to heavyweight, it seems a third fight between the two isn’t in the cards. But a dominant win from “Big Ank” could position him for another 205 pound title shot.
Here’s the rest of UFC Fight Night: Ankalaev vs. Rountree Jr. as it stands now:
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
Umar Nurmagomedov vs. David Martinez
Valter Walker vs. Thomas Petersen
Steve Erceg vs. Ramazan Temirov
Dustin Jacoby vs. Uran Satybaldiev
Brendson Ribeiro vs. Magomed Tuchalov
Ismael Bonfim vs. Axel Sola
Magomedrasul Gasanov vs. Abubakar Vagaev
Rizvan Kuniev vs. Tyrell Fortune
