Israel Adesanya Heads to Saudi Arabia for Main Event Fight
· Yahoo Sports
On December 5, the UFC will hold an event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the main event, former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya returns to the Octagon. He takes on Shara Magomedov. It’s the third time the UFC has held an event in Saudi Arabia and the second time Adesanya headlines the card.
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The UFC announced the fight moments ago. Adesanya is ranked ninth in the media rankings and tenth in the Meta rankings. Magomedov is ranked at number fifteen in the media rankings but isn’t ranked in the Meta rankings.
Legendary Adesanya
Israel Adesanya is one of the best middleweight fighters to ever fight in the UFC. Adesanya fought in boxing, kickboxing, and MMA simultaneously until 2018, when he signed an exclusive contract with the UFC. He entered the UFC with an 11-0 record and lots of hype to his name. Adesanya became an immediate fan favorite due to his flashy style and flamboyant character. In his first four fights in the UFC, he earned the “Performance of the Night” bonus three times and earned a matchup against arguably the greatest UFC middleweight of all time, Anderson Silva. Adesanya won after three rounds via unanimous decision.
It earned him a fight for the interim title against Kelvin Gastelum. Adesanya won after five rounds in one of the best fights in UFC history. Six months after becoming the interim champion, Adesanya became the undisputed champion, beating Robert Whittaker via knockout in the first round. Adesanya successfully defended the title against both Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa in 2020. In 2021, he got the opportunity to become a two-division champion when he took on Jan Blachowicz for the light-heavyweight belt.
The Polish fighter had a perfect game plan and became the first fighter to defeat Adesanya in a professional MMA fight. Adesanya went back to middleweight and defended his belt three more times. In November 2022, he lost his title against all-time rival Alex Pereira via TKO in the fifth round. Because of the long reign as a champion, Adesanya got an immediate rematch against the Brazilian. After losing twice in kickboxing to Pereira and one time in MMA, Adesanya finally got his revenge via a highlight-reel knockout in the second round, winning his title back.
Five months after the win, Adesanya lost as a heavy favorite the title against Sean Strickland. A devastating loss for Adesanya, but after Dricus Du Plessis defeated Strickland, he got a new chance to win the title against the South African. Adesanya fought a strong fight but lost by submission in the fourth round. The former champion is currently on a rough streak. He also lost via TKO to Nassourdine Imavov and Joe Pyfer. When he enters the cage against Shara Magomedov, he hasn’t had a win since April 2023.
Sharp Striking
Before Shara Magomedov transitioned to MMA, he made waves in Lethwei and Muay Thai. In 2017, he made his debut in MMA. Magomedov fought the majority of his fights in China and Russia and put together a record of 11-0. In 2023, the Russian fighter signed with the UFC. Magomedov debuted against Bruno Silva, beating the Brazilian by unanimous decision. His second year in the UFC was by far his best so far. In three fights, he won three times against Antonio Trócoli, Michal Oleksiejczuk, and Armen Petrosyan. The double spinning backfist knockout over Petrosyan is one of the most spectacular knockouts in UFC history.
In 2025, Magomedov took on Michael Page. The English fighter was able to play his game against Magomedov and beat him by unanimous decision. The first and only loss of Magomedov’s career so far. Magomedov bounced back with a “Fight of the Night” performance against Marc-André Barriault and a win over Michel Pereira. Now he takes on Israel Adesanya in Saudi Arabia. The biggest fight of his career so far.
UFC Saudi Arabia – Riyadh
- Israel Adesanya vs. Shara Magomedov
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Yaroslav Amosov
- Serghei Spivac vs. Mario Pinto
- Bruno Silva vs. Jafel Filho
- Pavel Andrusca vs. Mahammadali Osmanli
- Akbar Abdullaev vs. Mairon Santos
- JunYong Park vs. Marco Tulio
- Islam Dulatov vs. Levan Chokheli
- Matthieu Duclos vs. Modestino Rodrigues
- Magomed Tuchalov vs. Ion Cuțelaba
- Abdul Hussein vs. Hecher Sosa
- Ivan Gnizditskiy vs. Uran Satybaldiev
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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