UFC Abu Dhabi guide: debutants, exciting fighters & full fight card

UFC returns to Abu Dhabi this weekend for a potential middleweight title eliminator.

Former ONE Championship double-champion Reinier de Ridder takes on his toughest UFC test yet in former champion Robert Whittaker. 'The Reaper' looks to mount a career resurgence, and secure himself a rematch with the winner of Du Plessis vs. Chimaev at UFC 319.

'RDR' is here to play spoiler, securing three finish victories since joining the promotion in 2024, most recently crumpling then-undefeated Bo Nickal with a knee to the gut at UFC Des Moines in May.

UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. de Ridder remains one of the most stacked events of the year, here's what you need to know to stay excited.

Reinier de Ridder knees Bo Nickal — Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

A debutant to watch at UFC Abu Dhabi

The very first fight of the night features new heavyweight signee Marcus Buchecha. For those unfamiliar, Buchecha is considered one of the greatest BJJ professionals of all time, with dozens of gold medals to his name, including two ADCC world championships.

Buchecha has a 100-percent finishing rate, with one loss to Oumar Kane in ONE FC. He makes a tough debut against immovable object Martin Buday.

Submission aces competing at UFC Abu Dhabi

Here's a fact, UFC Abu Dhabi features two of the three fighters to score twister submissions inside the Octagon. Bryce Mitchell notched the second-ever twister finish back in 2019, and Da'Mon Blackshear put his name on the list in 2023.

Prelim fighter 'Dangerous' Davey Grant isn't just dynamite on the feet, he also secured an insanely rare inverted triangle choke in 2023. Grant also owns wins over Marlon Vera and Jonathan Martinez, and could be ranked if not for a split decision loss to Daniel Marcos.

Davey Grant submits Raphael Assuncao with an inverted triangle off a single leg, using a technique remniscent of a folkstyle wrestling move - the Winn Dixie - used by NCAA D1 wrestler Jason Nolf pic.twitter.com/Vj8vIdybXx
— Josie Aldo (@JosieAldoMMA) March 12, 2023

Spinning strikers coming to play at UFC Abu Dhabi

UFC Abu Dhabi fighters have some of the best spinning highlights in UFC history.

Muslim Salikhov knocked out Kenon Song with a spinning wheel kick in his last fight, marking his sixth finish by spinning kick.

MUSLIM SALIKHOV KNOCKS OUT SONG KENAN!

WHAT A KNOCKOUT! #UFCMacau pic.twitter.com/5AbQ93y3Ah
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 23, 2024

Co-main event fighter Sharabutdin Magomedov is known for his point-fighting kickboxing style, and his last knockout came against Arman Petrosyan by way of double spinning backfist.

Shara Bullet's Double Spinning Backfist is a videogame move in real life!#UFCAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/DJaPFSyg44
— Consensus Score (@ConsensusScore) July 24, 2025

Let's not forget Petr Yan's spinning assault on Cory Sandhagen in 2021.

Yan is using the same spinning combo against Sandhagen three times. pic.twitter.com/IwMyagdm8w
— 💦M_LOWERY🦐 (@MLOWERY851329) May 31, 2023

Most exciting fighters

Other than the aforementioned Yan, Magomedov, Blackshear, Salikhov, Grant, and Mitchell, we have heavy-handed sluggers like Carlos Leal, Bogdan Guskov, and Ibo Aslan, as well as a prolific finisher in Nikita Krylov, who has 28 finishes in 30 wins.