The UFC has released the full lineup for its next trip to Saudi Arabia. On December 5, the ANB Arena in Riyadh hosts a main event between Israel Adesanya and Shara Magomedov, the promotion’s final Fight Night card of the year.
Adesanya looks for a reset against Magomedov
Israel Adesanya has dropped four straight fights, three of them by stoppage, against Dricus Du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov and Joe Pyfer, the most recent of those coming against Pyfer in Seattle in March. The former two-time middleweight champion won his title back with a knockout of Alex Pereira at UFC 281 before the current slide began, a stretch that pushed him out of the division’s top tier. He also changes camps for this fight, his first since leaving longtime coach Eugene Bareman and City Kickboxing. A hint on his Instagram account preceded the official confirmation, which came during the UFC Vegas 124 broadcast.
Shara Magomedov enters at 6-1 inside the Octagon and 17-1 as a pro, with his only promotional loss coming against Michael Page, also in Riyadh, back in February 2025, a reminder that the city has already reshuffled the middleweight picture once. Nicknamed Shara Bullet, he has won his last two fights, over Marc-Andre Barriault and Michel Pereira, and treats this booking as the biggest opportunity of his career, a chance to add a former champion to his resume in just his seventh fight under the UFC banner.
Garry and Amosov fill out a five-round co-main
The co-main event pits Ian Machado Garry against Yaroslav Amosov over five rounds. Garry, known as The Future and sitting at 17-2, returns from a title-fight loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 330, a setback that followed statement wins over Carlos Prates and Belal Muhammad. Amosov, a former Bellator welterweight champion with a 30-1 professional record, remains unbeaten inside the Octagon with submission wins over Neil Magny and Joel Alvarez in his first two appearances for the promotion. His only professional loss dates back to November 2023, against Jason Jackson.
A middleweight picture under reconstruction
Both headliners are fighting their way back from adversity. Adesanya needs the win to stop a run that cost him his place among the sport’s elite, while Magomedov gets a shot at a former two-time champion that could vault him straight into title contention. The UFC billed the pairing as a striker’s delight, a tagline that undersells how much is riding on five rounds in Riyadh for both careers. The promotion confirmed the matchup during the UFC Vegas 124 broadcast before releasing separate main-card and preliminary-card graphics on November 8.
The rest of the lineup
The main card also features Serghei Spivac against Mario Pinto at heavyweight, Levan Chokheli against Islam Dulatov at welterweight, Mairon Santos against Akbar Abdullaev at lightweight, and Magomed Tuchalov against Ion Cutelaba at light heavyweight. The preliminary card adds Bruno Silva against Jafel Filho, JunYong Park against Marco Tulio, Pavel Andrusca against Mahammadali Osmanli, Abdul Hussein against Hecher Sosa, and French prospect Matthieu Duclos against Modestino Rodrigues at middleweight. Duclos, 31, stands 6-foot-3 with a 6-foot-5 reach (1.91 m, 1.96 m), and is coming off a knockout win in his promotional debut at UFC Paris on September 5, making this his second UFC fight barely two months later.
Before signing with the UFC, Duclos held the middleweight title in the French promotion Hexagone MMA and carried a 10-3 record into the big leagues. His one notable loss came on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2024, a knockout at the hands of Brazil’s Marco Tulio, who happens to face JunYong Park on this same Riyadh card. Duclos signed his multi-fight UFC deal in early July 2026, making him the third French fighter to join the promotion this year, after Delphine Benouaich and Noah Gugnon.
The card closes out the promotion’s 2026 schedule in the Middle East, landing one week ahead of UFC 335 in Las Vegas. Paramount+ carries every numbered UFC event and Fight Night card in the United States, and the streamer’s own announcement helped confirm the booking alongside the UFC’s own graphics.
Adesanya and Magomedov both make their names at range, in a division where small details in striking equipment matter when five rounds are on the line. Our ranking of 4-ounce MMA fight gloves compares the top model from every major brand.
