Best fights and fighters to watch at this weekend's UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia

The UFC returns to Saudi Arabia for the second time this Saturday (February 1) with a possible middleweight title eliminator fight in the card’s headlining slot.

The Main Event: Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov

The main event will see two-time middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya compete in his first non-title fight since 2019 when he meets #5-ranked Nassourdine Imavov.

Israel Adesanya prepares to fight Sean Strickland during UFC 293 at Qudos Bank Arena. | Jasmin Frank-Imagn Images

Adesanya is currently on the first two-fight skid of his MMA career after losing his title to Sean Strickland and coming up short in a bid to reclaim the belt against Dricus Du Plessis. If “The Last Stylebender” wants to remain in title contention he’ll need to halt Imavov’s current three-fight win streak that’s put “The Sniper” within range of a title shot of his own.

Nassourdine Imavov connects with Jared Cannonier during the second round of their middleweight UFC Fight Night main event. | Timothy D. Easley/Special to the Courier-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

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The Co-Main Event: Shara Magomedov vs. Michael Page

The night’s co-main event is another middleweight matchup between undefeated contender Shara Magomedov and Michael Page.

Ian Machado Garry fights Michael Page during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Ranked at #15 in the UFC welterweight division, Page is set to compete at middleweight for the first time after losing to Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303. He faces a stiff test in Magomedov, as “Bullet” is 4-0 in the UFC and is coming off a highlight-reel double spinning back fist knockout of Armen Petrosyan that earned the Russian a #13 middleweight ranking.

Shara Magomedov scored a Knockout of the Year-contender in his last fight at UFC 303. | (Craig Kidwell/MMA Junkie

Fights You Don’t Want To Miss

Fares Ziam vs. Mike Davis

Outside of the main event and co-main events, this lightweight matchup may be the most intriguing fight scheduled for UFC Saudi Arabia.

Fares Ziam fights Jai Herbert during a UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. | Per Haljestam-Imagn Images

Ziam is currently on a four-fight win streak and most recently scored a highlight-reel knockout against Matt Frevola in September. Davis has also won four-straight but has struggled to stay healthy since joining the UFC in 2019, and if “Beast Boy” can defeat Ziam on Saturday it will mark the first time he’s won two fights in under a year since 2019.

Mike Davis fights Thomas Gifford during a UFC Fight Night at Amalie Arena. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

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Terrance McKinney vs. Damir Hadžović

Fans know what to expect from McKinney at this point, as “T. Wrecks” has established himself as a kill-or-be-killed fighter that rarely sees his bouts go past the opening round.

Terrance McKinney fights Esteban Ribovics during a UFC Fight Night at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

The 30-year-old is set to welcome Hadžović back to the Octagon for the first time since 2022, and “The Bosnian Bomber” will have to shake off any potential ring rust quite quickly given that McKinney will likely be hunting for a finish right from the opening bell.

Damir Hadzovic after defeating Marco Polo Reyes during a UFC Fight Night at 02 Arena. | Per Haljestam-Imagn Images

Fighters to Watch

Sergei Pavlovich

Pavlovich is currently on the first two-fight skid of his career after he was stopped by Tom Aspinall in an interim heavyweight title bout at UFC 295 and dropped a decision to Alexander Volkov in June.

The Russian scored six-straight first-round finishes after dropping his UFC debut against Alistair Overeem, and he’ll look to get back on track in Saudi Arabia when he faces another top-ranked heavyweight in Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Vinicius Oliveira

A contract winner on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, Oliveria announced himself to UFC fans with a flying knee knockout against Benardo Sopaj last March and improved to 2-0 in the promotion when he defeated bantamweight veteran Ricky Simón at UFC 303.

The Brazilian is currently a small underdog ahead of his third UFC outing against Said Nurmagomedov, and fans won’t want to miss out on a chance to potentially see “Lok Dog” score another highlight-reel finish.

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Mayra Bueno Silva

A former bantamweight title challenger, Bueno Silva is set to return to women’s flyweight for the first time since 2021 when she meets the surging Jasmine Jasudavicius in Saudi Arabia.

“Sheetara” won’t have an easy time halting Jasudavicius’ three-fight win streak, but a victory over the #12-ranked fighter would put Bueno Silva in the mix for a Top 10 women’s flyweight matchup and also snap her current two-fight skid.

UFC Saudi Arabia Main Card

• Main Event: Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov

• Co-Main Event: Shara Magomedov vs. Michael Page

• Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik

• Said Nurmagomedov vs. Vinicius Oliveira

• Fares Ziam vs. Mike Davis

UFC Saudi Arabia Preliminary Card

• Muhammad Naimov vs. Kaan Ofli

• Shamil Gaziev vs. Thomas Petersen

• Terrance McKinney vs. Damir Hadžović

• Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Mayra Bueno Silva

• Bogdan Grad vs. Lucas Alexander

• Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Jamal Pogues

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• Khabib Nurmagomedov takes vicious shot at Conor McGregor while backing Paul Hughes

• BKFC Boss would resurrect title for potential Robbie Lawler vs. Mike Perry fight

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