The UFC have released a number of bouts ahead of their return to Abu Dhabi on August 3.
The promotion took to social media to announce the abundance of fights, which have been received extremely well by fans online.
The card, which will take place inside the Etihad Arena, was already looking incredibly stacked with Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen squaring off in the main event and a host of huge names including Nick Diaz, Marlon Vera, Tony Ferguson and Deiveson Figueiredo all also set to feature on the main card.
Some of the notable bouts announced by the promotion on August 3 included the return of the Shamil Gaziev. The heavyweight appeared to be on a demolition course through the division when after just one fight with the promotion he found himself taking on the then 12 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik at a UFC Fight Night event. It appeared to be too much too soon for Gaziev, who was outworked over four rounds. At the end of the fourth round, the doctor was called into the Octagon and waved the bout off when Bahraini said he could not see. In his return, he takes on Don’Tale Mayers, who is fresh off a win against Caio Machado back in April of this year.
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady returns in search of his first victory in the UFC gloves when he takes on Guram Kutateladze in a Lightweight contest. Al-Selwady signed with the UFC following a unanimous decision victory over Cage Warriors Lightweight Champion George Hardwick on the 2023 season of Dana White’s Contender Series. He made his promotional debut in March of this year against Loik Radzhabov but came up short against and was stopped in the 3rd round. Kutateladze has really struggled to gain any sort of momentum after beating Mateusz Gamrot in 2020. Since then, he has only made the walk twice and has been beaten both times.
Javid Basharat will be looking to bounce back in the win column against the vastly more experienced Chris Gutierrez when they square off at 135lbs. Basharat is yet another Contender Series alumni to feature on the Abu Dhabi card, having earned his contract with a round three submission against the previously unbeaten Oron Kahlon. In just 17 months, Basharat made the walk four times and builta solid 3-1 promotional record before facing Aiemann Zahabi on UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev. After a good first round for Basharat, Zahabi came on strong in the second and third to take the unanimous decision and handed Basharat his first loss.Gutierrez is no stranger to taking on the whose who of the Bantamweight division, having faced the likes of Song Yadong and Pedro Munhoz and Frankie Edgar in three of his last four bouts.
Bouts added to UFC Abu Dhabi
Mohammad Yahya vs Kauê Fernandes Pinheiro
Alonzo Menifield vs Azamat Murzakanov
Chris Gutierrez vs Javid Basharat
Joel Alvarez vs Elves Brener
Jai Herbert vs Rolando Bedoya
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs Guram Kutateladze
Shamil Gaziev vs Don'Tale Mayes
Sedriques Dumas vs Denis Tiuliulin
Azat Maksum vs CJ Vergara
Victoria Dudakova vs Sam Hughes
