Israel Adesanya next fight set against Shara Magomedov at UFC Saudi Arabia
The former two-time middleweight champion faces the unbeaten-in-two Russian over five rounds in Riyadh on 5 December, with Ian Machado Garry against Yaroslav Amosov also scheduled for five rounds in the co-main event.
Israel Adesanya will end a four-fight losing run's worth of uncertainty about his future when he meets Shara Magomedov in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia at ANB Arena in Riyadh on Saturday 5 December 2026. The UFC announced the five-round middleweight bout during the UFC Vegas 124 broadcast.
The 37-year-old former two-time middleweight champion has not won since knocking out Alex Pereira to regain the title in April 2023. He lost the belt to Sean Strickland in his next fight and has since been stopped three times in a row, by Dricus Du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov and Joe Pyfer. The Riyadh bout will be his first since leaving long-time head coach Eugene Bareman and City Kickboxing.
Magomedov (17-1) comes in on back-to-back wins over Marc-Andre Barriault and Michel Pereira and is 6-1 in the UFC. His only professional defeat came against Michael "Venom" Page in Saudi Arabia in February 2025. Adesanya, who is 24-6, is by some distance the most accomplished opponent of his career.
The co-main event is also scheduled for five rounds. Ian Machado Garry (17-2) returns for the first time since losing to Islam Makhachev in a welterweight title fight at UFC 330, a defeat that ended a run including wins over Carlos Prates and Belal Muhammad. He faces former Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov (30-1), who has submitted Neil Magny and Joel Alvarez in his first two UFC fights. Amosov's only professional loss came against Jason Jackson in November 2023.
The event is the UFC's final Fight Night of 2026 and takes place a week before UFC 335 in Las Vegas.
The rest of the announced card features 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 and Ivan Gnizditskiy vs Uran Satybaldiev.
Every UK fight result and what's next, every Friday. Get the free UK fight briefing
More MMA from Combat Sports UK
- Dana White takes White House podium: 'I don't tell the President no to anything'
- Johnny Walker says Jon Jones 'was saved by my celebration': 'I could beat him'
- Roberto Soldic to face Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Dallas after Khaos Williams win
- Roberto Soldic to face No. 14 Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Dallas in bid to crack the top 15
The UK fight briefing
The stories, results and upcoming fights worth knowing. Every Friday.