UFC returns to Abu Dhabi with another action-packed Fight Night in July 2025
Fight fans, get ready for brilliant news – the wait is almost over – as UFC roars back to Abu Dhabi this summer. Mark your calendars for an electrifying mixed martial arts showdown in the UAE capital. The stage is set for an explosive UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi on Saturday, 26 July at the Etihad Arena, Yas Island, promising a stellar lineup of elite talent raring to do battle in the Octagon.
As the fight card remains under wraps, anticipation is hitting fever pitch for what promises to be another unforgettable experience at the Etihad Arena. Expect a lineup of UFC’s finest athletes ready to deliver riveting contests, fuelling the adrenaline of a sell-out crowd. Might we see rising phenoms or fan-favourite champions headline the night?
Recap: April 5, UFC on ESPN 65: Emmett vs. Murphy – UFC Apex | Las Vegas, Nevada
It was an undoubtedly entertaining night of fights in Las Vegas, where the prelims set the tone and pattern for Saturday’s main card at the UFC APEX which produced a little of everything to a vocally enthusiastic crowd.
Torrez Finney opened the show with a lacklustre decision win over TUF finalist Robert Valentin. However, in the next bout Ode’ Osbourne stepped up the tempo, with the Jamaican flyweight securing an explosive second-round stoppage win over newcomer Luis Gurule, which applied the brakes to his previous three-fight decline. Then Brad Tavares followed on in a similar vein putting his opponent under constant pressure eventually out-hustling Gerald Meerschaert, while simultaneously tying Michael Bisping’s record for the most wins in UFC Middleweight division history. Meanwhile, up next, ‘Road to UFC Bantamweight’ winner, South Korea’s ChangHo Lee delivered a decisive victory via a second-round bombardment of elbows that halted an over-fighting-weight Cortavious Romious in his tracks. A powerful display from the 30-year-old newcomer from Seoul, who demonstrated just a dozen fights into his professional career, an acute awareness of how to take advantage of dominant positions and do damage.
Co-Main Event: Pat Sabatini overwhelms Joanderson Brito by unanimous decision
While the big finish never materialised, this scrap was one-way traffic all the way and a stellar effort from Pat Sabatini, who turned in a dominant performance, mauling Joanderson Brito on the canvas to take his second straight win by unanimous decision. It only needed a single takedown in each round for Sabatini to register a remarkable total ground control time of more than 13 minutes. Brito was quite simply on the canvas early in every round with the Brazilian offering little resistance thereafter.
The softly spoken Marquez MMA rep, then left his post fight interviewer speechless, with an eloquently poetic quote: “I want to climb the mountain, because the top of the mountain has the greatest views.”
Main Event: Lerone Murphy outmanoeuvres Josh Emmett in explosive high-energy contest
Lerone Murphy extended his undefeated streak with an eighth straight victory, out-hustling Josh Emmett in the grand finale of a compelling fight night in Las Vegas.
Murphy’s meticulous game plan hinged on evading Emmett’s brute force. Lightning-fast, he diligently danced around the outside evading the impact of Josh Emmett’s power.
While Emmett had his magic moments – a breathtaking slam in the second round demonstrated his ferocious power – it was Murphy’s unrelenting movement and effective combinations that enabled him to control the pace for most of the fight. A punishing strategy that left Emmett visibly frustrated. Murphy’s consistent and accurate strikes swayed all three judges, earning him an emphatic unanimous decision victory, securing his eighth win to stay unbeaten. Overall, he continued to prove himself a responsible technical fighter ready to step up in future competition.
In his post-fight interview, Murphy voiced ambitions for a featherweight title shot, citing a top ten ranking and Brian Ortega as his next logical opponent.
Recap: April 12, UFC 314: Volkanovski vs. Lopes – Kaseya Center | Miami, Florida
The event became the promotion’s fourth visit to Miami and first since UFC 299 in March 2024. Headlined by a UFC Featherweight Championship bout for the vacant title between former champion Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes, due to reigning champion Ilia Topuria vacating the title earlier this year to make the move up to lightweight. An unforgettable night with thrilling bouts and monumental shifts in rankings.
UFC 314: Early Preliminary Card Highlights
A women’s bantamweight bout between Nora Cornolle and Hailey Cowan had previously been slated to take place at UFC 315. However, the fight was moved to this event for unknown reasons. The weigh-ins proved controversial, Cornolle weighed in at 137.5 pounds, one and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. The bout went ahead at catchweight and Cornolle was fined 20 percent of her purse which assigned to Cowan. Nevertheless, Nora Cornolle went on to defeat Hailey Cowan via a dominant rear-naked choke submission at 1:52 into the second round.
UFC 314: Preliminary Card Highlights
Two featherweight contests caught the eye:
Dan Ige overcame Sean Woodson to take the bout, the 33-year-old from Honolulu, Hawaii, earned a comprehensive technical knockout victory via punches at 1.12 into round 3. After a competitive couple of rounds, Ige launched a late rally and finalised the fight via strikes. A remarkable result in that Woodson had come to Miami undefeated in his past seven fights with a distinct reach advantage.
Meanwhile, fellow featherweight Julian Erosa, fighting out of Yakima, Washington defeated Darren Elkins in the final prem bout of the night also via another TKO demolition stoppage in round 1 which saw ‘Juicy J’ heading for his 31st career win and three in a row.
UFC 314: Main Card Highlights
Former three-time Bellator Lightweight World Champion, also a former UFC Lightweight Championship challenger, Michael Chandler met Paddy Pimblett in a five-round lightweight co-main event. Pimblett defeated Chandler with a powerful elbows and punches TKO at 3:07 into the third. Pimblett rises four places to eighth in the official lightweight rankings as a result.
Former three-time Bellator Featherweight World Champion, also former Bellator Lightweight World Champion, Patrício Pitbull made his UFC promotional debut in a featherweight bout against former interim UFC Featherweight Champion Yair Rodríguez. In the final analysis Rodríguez secured the win against Pitbull by unanimous decision over three rounds.
Jean Silva overwhelmed Bryce Mitchell with a spectacular ninja choke submission at 3:52 into the second.
Meanwhile, in the Light Heavyweight bout that followed Dominick Reyes stopped opponent Nikita Krylov with a haymaker of a KO punch at 2:24 into the first round.
UFC314: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes Title Bout Highlights
In the main event headline title bout, Australian, Alexander Volkanovski produced a gritty display to triumph over Diego Lopes by a unanimous judges’ decision.
This was no mean feat, as Volkanovski had to fight his way back from an early knockdown to get the better of Brazil’s Lopes and reclaim the featherweight title in what had evolved into a five-round war.
After beating Lopes in the first round, Volkanovski carried this dominance forward into the second, until the Brazilian landed a ferocious right that dropped Volkanovski to the canvas in the dying seconds of the round.
The 36-year-old scrapper from Downunder is now the first man aged over 35 in the UFC lighter weight classes to win a world title and is now just a single win away from joining MMA legend Jose Aldo to share the record for the most title fight wins in UFC featherweight history. ‘The Great’ now holds the UFC featherweight title for a second time after another incredible four-year spell at the top from 2019 to 2023.
Upcoming UFC events May 2025
May 4, UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Figueiredo – Wells Fargo Arena | Des Moines, Iowa – United States
May 11, UFC 315: Muhammad vs Della Maddalena – Bell Centre | Montréal, QC – Canada
May 18, UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Morales – UFC APEX | Las Vegas, Nevada – United States
