Former champion Robert Whittaker faces Reinier de Ridder atop UFC Fight Night, live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, July 26. The pair square off in a five-rounder at middleweight.
Whittaker (26-8) of Australia by way of New Zealand lost his previous bout last November by submission in the first round against Khamzat Chimaev. De Ridder (20-2) of the Netherlands aims for his fifth straight victory, having defeated Bo Nickal via second-round TKO in May.
The co-main event is a bantamweight bout between Petr Yan (18-5) and Marcus McGhee (10-1) of Detroit, MI. Yan won two fights last year by unanimous decision against Deiveson Figueiredo and Song Yadong. McGhee earned his sixth straight victory last November, scoring a UD over Jonathan Martinez.
Also on the card is another contest at middleweight pitting Shara Magomedov (15-1) against Marc-Andre Barriault (17-9) of Canada. Plus, Asu Almabayev (21-3) of Kazakhstan and Ramazan Temirov (19-3) of Uzbekistan battle it out at flyweight.