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Forbes
5 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Card: Date, Time, Location, How To Watch Or Stream
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - JULY 23: Robert Whittaker works out for fans and media during the ... More UFC Fight Night Open Workouts at Yas Mall on July 23, 2025 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) The next event on the 2025 UFC schedule is nearly upon us. That fight card, UFC Abu Dhabi, takes place on Saturday, July 26, and is headlined by a pivotal middleweight matchup. In the UFC Fight Night main event, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker looks to turn back rising 185-pound contender Reinier De Ridder. The UFC on ABC card has an early start, which is a rarity. UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Card: Date Saturday, July 26, 2025 UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Card: Location Etihad Arena in Yas Island UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Card: How to Watch Or Stream Main Card: ABC Preliminary Card: ESPN and ESPN+ UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Card: Fight Card Time Prelims: Noon ET Main Card: 3:00 p.m. ET UFC Abu Dhabi Main Event: Robert Whittaker Vs. Renier de Ridder ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 17: Robert Whittaker of New Zealand prepares to face Paulo Costa of ... More Brazil in their middleweight fight during UFC 298 at Honda Center on February 17, 2024 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) Whittaker (26-8) is the No. 5 fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings. Whittaker is 15-4 with the UFC since June 2014. His only losses have come to Israel Adesanya, Dricus du Plessis, and Khamzat Chimaev. Adesanya is a former UFC middleweight champ. Du Plessis is the current UFC 185-pound champion, and Chimaev is scheduled to face Du Plessis in a title fight at UFC 319 in August. In short, the 34-year-old is the gate keeper to the elite of the division. Whittaker is coming off a nasty submission loss to Chimaev at UFC 308 in October 2024. DES MOINES, IOWA - MAY 03: Reinier de Ridder of The Netherlands reacts after his TKO victory over Bo ... More Nickal in their middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Wells Fargo Arena on May 03, 2025 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC) De Ridder (20-2) has been climbing the UFC middleweight ladder since he joined the promotion after holding the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight titles. The 34-year-old is No. 13 in the UFC 185-pound division. He is 3-0 with the promotion with stoppage wins over Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland and Bo Nickal. His win over Nickal was his most recent victory, coming in May of this year. UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Card: Main Card Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder - Middleweight Petr Yan vs. Marcus McGhee - Bantamweight Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Marc-André Barriault - Middleweight Asu Almabayev vs. Jose Ochoa - Flyweight Nikita Krylov vs. Bogdan Guskov - Light heavyweight UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Card: Preliminary Card Bryce Mitchell vs. Said Nurmagomedov - Bantamweight Muslim Salikhov vs. Carlos Leal Miranda - Welterweight Davey Grant vs. Da'Mon Blackshear - Bantamweight Amanda Ribas vs. Tabatha Ricci - Strawweight İbo Aslan vs. Billy Elekana - Light heavyweight Mohammad Yahya vs. Steven Nguyen - Featherweight Martin Buday vs. Marcus Buchecha - Heavyweight We will have more on the UFC Abu Dhabi fight card, including results, reactions and highlights on fight night.
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Alexander Volkanovski regrets taking Ilia Topuria bout soon after Islam Makhachev KO loss
Alexander Volkanovski admits he rushed into his UFC featherweight title defense against Ilia Topuria. Just four months after he was knocked out in the first round by an Islam Makhachev head kick, Volkanovski turned around to face Topuria. Volkanovski was knocked out by Topuria at UFC 298, which had many questioning if he should have taken some time off. Looking back, Volkanovski (27-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) said he should have taken the recovery from the Makhachev loss more seriously. "I feel like I had more of a concussion from the Islam one, and even though I was knocked out longer with Ilia, I had a lot more of the symptoms with Islam," Volkanovski said in an interview with Demetrious Johnson. "So, I probably should have had more of a break. I didn't have head contact (when training for Topuria), but when you're easing into it, making sure you're not getting hit and trying to put yourself in safer positions, you even start camp wrong. I should have had the break." After suffering back-to-back knockouts, Volkanovski did end up taking some time off. He returned 14 months later to face Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight title at UFC 314. He won the bout by unanimous decision to reclaim his 145-pound belt. "I probably should have done what I did after that fight, had the break," Volkanovski said. "It was great, but whether I did that earlier, maybe it (Topuria fight) would have been different. We don't know."
USA Today
05-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Alexander Volkanovski on how to beat UFC champ Ilia Topuria: 'Wrestle the bloke'
Alexander Volkanovski wants to see UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria's cardio tested. Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) continued his dominant run when he knocked out Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant lightweight title in Saturday's UFC 317 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Volkanovski (27-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC), who saw his first featherweight title reign come to an end at the hands of Topuria by knockout at UFC 298 in February 2024, urges fighters to try and grapple "El Matador," and push him to unchartered waters. "Wrestle the bloke, mate," Volkanovski said of Topuria on the FLAGRANT podcast. "You want to see what's going to happen with his gas tank. So even with Ilia, great fighter, like even a lot of the things he does, like I'm sure a lot of it's well trained, and then he's got so many good instincts as well." Despite Oliveira lasting less than three minutes with Topuria, Volkanovski noticed the lone grappling exchange in the fight having an effect on Topuria, and said pushing him further down that path is the way to go. "We want to see the gas tank, see what happens there because I thought Charles when he was taking him down, and forcing the wrestle and the grapple, I felt like it was starting to wear on him a little bit," Volkanovski added. "So even when he sort of ended up on top when they grappled, I don't know if you remember, Ilia gets up and then starts kicking him, didn't let him up. "He waited like, I'm going to wait 30 seconds, kick his legs, get my breath back because that probably took a little bit out of him, which I thought was clever. You want to catch him coming in because he wants to commit as well, but there's that danger of him landing as well."
Mint
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Topuria vs Oliveira live streaming details: When and where to watch UFC 317 event, fight cards & all you need to know
Charles Oliveira will be aiming to become the first UFC fighter to win the lightweight championship on two separate occasions when the 35-year-old takes on Ilia Topuria in the main event for the vacant 155-pound lightweight title in UFC 317 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Oliveira's first title came in May 15, 2021 when he had defeated Michael Chandler with a second-round TKO at UFC 262. On the other hand, Topuria (16-0-0) is coming after his featherweight triumph with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski last year at UFC 298. The 28-year-old Topuria then got better of Max Holloway eight months later at UFC 308 to successfully defend his throne. The co-main event will be fought between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Kara-France with the winner leaving the Octagon with the flyweight championship. The last time these two met was during the Season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter. Pantoja won the two-round clash by unanimous decision. Fans can catch the The UFC 317 main card on ESPN+ play-per-view, starting at 10 PM ET on June 28 (7:30 AM IST on June 29). The prelims will be live on ESPN, ESPN+ and Disney+ at 8 PM ET (5:30 AM IST on June 29)) and early prelims on ESPN+ and Disney+ at 6:30 PM ET (4 AM IST on June 29). Lightweight championship: Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira Flyweight championship: Alexandre Pantoja (c) vs. Kai Kara-France Flyweight: Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van Lightweight: Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano Bantamweight: Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima Middleweight: Jack Hermansson vs. Gregory Rodrigues Featherweight: Hyder Amil vs. Jose Miguel Delgado Women's strawweight: Viviane Araujo vs. Tracy Cortez Lightweight: Terrance McKinney vs. Viacheslav Borshchev Middleweight: Sedriques Dumas vs. Jackson McVey Heavyweight: Jhonata Diniz vs. Alvin Hines Welterweight: Niko Price vs Jacobe Smith
USA Today
26-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Alexander Volkanovski predicts Ilia Topuria knocks out Charles Oliveira early at UFC 317
Alexander Volkanovski doesn't see the UFC 317 main event lasting too long. Ilia Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) takes on Charles Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) for the vacant lightweight title in Saturday's main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Volkanovski's first featherweight title reign came to an end when he was knocked out by Topuria at UFC 298. Topuria is the only fighter to defeat Volkanovski at 145 pounds. Volkanovski (27-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) has said on numerous occasions that the only way he ever sees himself losing is by getting caught, and Topuria was able to do that in the second round of their fight. However, Volkanovski also acknowledges the dangers that Oliveira, the UFC's record holder for most finishes, brings. "He's just so aggressive," Volkanovski told FOX Sports Australia on Oliveira. "He's going to take a lot of risks, he's in your face, he comes forward. Yeah, you can hit him, but something's going to be coming at you, as well, and they're always dangerous. Especially for me, the only way I'm losing is I'm getting caught. And you've got someone who's one of the most dangerous grapplers and most dangerous strikers. He's dangerous everywhere, so you've got to go in there and respect that." That being said, Volkanovski sees Topuria's power being too much for Oliveira. "I'm going to Ilia," Volkanovski said. "I think Ilia's going to get the win. I think Ilia can catch him. I reckon early knockout – early knockout for Ilia Topuria. ... He doesn't just come forward and just stand in your face. He has a lot of movement. You see him slipping and slipping and trying to find his way in. "He's coming in and you know he's going to be dangerous. He's trying to find his way in, whether it's slipping shots or getting into a position where he's nice spaced. He's always spaced very well. He doesn't get out of position and fall over his feet. He's always got his feet under him, so now always the power to come with the big shots." With Topuria now moving up to lightweight, Volkanovski reclaimed his featherweight title by defeating Diego Lopes for the vacant belt at UFC 314 in April.
