Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will face former champion Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22nd.
The promotion's first show in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will take place on ABC, with the headliner serving as a fight between the No. 1 middleweight contenders.
Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) defeated Paulo Costa by unanimous decision at UFC 298 on February 17th. He is 2-1 since suffering his second loss to Israel's “Last Stylebender” Adesanya.
Whittaker, 33, lost to Adesanya at UFC 271 in February 2022 before defeating Marvin Vettori via UD at UFC Paris. However, the Australian lost to current middleweight champion Drikas du Plessis by second-round knockout. UFC290.
A win over Chimaev would pave the way for Whittaker's second title shot after relinquishing the 185-pound strap in his first fight with Adesanya at UFC 243. Adesanya's second-round KO win in Melbourne ended Whittaker's win streak at nine.
He responded with three straight wins, defeating Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum by UD, and earning a second crack at Adesanya.
Chimaev just defeated former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman by majority decision at UFC 294 last October. 'Bolts' tore ligaments in his hand early in the match against Usman, who was making his middleweight debut.
Chimaev has four first-round finishes in his seven fights in the UFC, including submission wins over Kevin Holland and Li Jinliang.
The 29-year-old finishes his career with 11 fights, six KOs and five submissions. In one of the best fights of 2022, Chimaev defeated Gilbert Burns by UD in three rounds at UFC 273.
In the co-main event, Sergei Pavlovich, No. 3 in the heavyweight rankings, will face No. 6 Alexander Volkov. Pavlovic will be in bounce-back mode after suffering a first-round knockout loss to Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight championship.
The 31-year-old Pavlovic (18-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) had won six straight by the end of the first round before losing to Aspinall in 69 seconds.
Volkov (37-10 MMA, 11-4 UFC) is on a three-fight win streak, dating back to a loss to Aspinall in March 2022.
In the welterweight bout, Gastelum will face Daniel Rodriguez, while Johnny Walker will take on Volkan Oezdemir in a 205-pound fight.
Dana White announced the fifth bout in the middleweight loop on Wednesday night, Sharavdin Magomedov vs. Ihor Potieria.
