Israel Adesanya and Shara Magomedov will meet in the headline bout of UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 5. The card also features Ian Machado Garry against Yaroslav Amosov in the co-main event, bringing together a former Bellator welterweight champion and a fighter coming off an unsuccessful UFC title challenge.
The main event gives Magomedov the matchup he has sought publicly on more than one occasion. Known to UFC followers as "Shara Bullet," he called out Adesanya in 2024 and renewed that challenge in June this year. Adesanya initially dismissed the proposed fight two years ago, but the two are now scheduled to share the Octagon.
Adesanya enters the booking amid a prolonged run of defeats. The two-time UFC middleweight champion has lost four consecutive fights, with his most recent three losses all coming by stoppage. His latest appearance ended in March in Seattle, where Joe Pyfer knocked him out, extending the former champion's difficult stretch.
Magomedov arrives with a markedly different recent record. He has won six of his seven UFC fights and is coming off victories over Michel Pereira and Marc-Andre Barriault. Those results precede his opportunity to face the former middleweight champion he first challenged publicly in 2024.
The welterweight co-main event will be contested over five rounds, giving Garry and Amosov the same scheduled fight length as a main event. Their matchup adds another prominent contest to the Saudi Arabia card beneath Adesanya's meeting with Magomedov, with both fighters entering after significant appearances of their own.
Garry's most recent title bid ended without the belt after he challenged UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev. He gave Makhachev a difficult fight but was unable to take the championship. His next scheduled opponent is another fighter with championship experience, although Amosov earned his title in Bellator.
Amosov, the former Bellator welterweight champion, remains unbeaten in UFC competition. In his most recent Octagon appearance, he submitted Joel Alvarez. He now faces Garry in a five-round bout as he looks to continue that undefeated UFC run.
Outside his results in competition, Amosov is also known for recovering his Bellator championship belt from the rubble of his mother's home. He rescued the title while defending Ukraine against Russia.
