Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker to Headline UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural visit to Saudi Arabia will have a marquee bout at the top of the bill.

UFC CEO Dana White announced late Wednesday evening that Khamzat Chimaev will face Robert Whittaker in the card’s middleweight main event on June 22. Meanwhile, Sergei Pavlovich will square off against Alexander Volkov at heavyweight in the co-headliner. Volkov had been previously expected to meet Jailton Almeida at UFC 302, but apparently those plans have changed.

White also confirmed the following three bouts for UFC Saudi Arabia: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez at welterweight; Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir at light heavyweight and Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Ihor Potieria at light heavyweight.

“This card is going to be badass from top to bottom,” White said. “It’s going to be historic. It’s our first ever show from the Kingdom.”

UFC Saudi Arabia will air on ABC, per White. The event is a far cry from the card that was originally expected to take place in Saudi Arabia on March 2. The promotion’s trip to the country was reportedly postponed due to a lack of satisfaction from the “powers that be” in Saudi Arabia with the quality of the card. Instead, UFC Fight Night 238 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and saw Jairzinho Rozenstruik defeat Shamil Gaziev in the main event.

Chimaev is unbeaten in 13 professional appearances — including seven bouts under the UFC banner. In his last outing, “Borz” made a successful middleweight debut, as he took a majority decision against ex-welterweight champ Kamaru Usman at UFC 294. Chimaev owns other notable victories over the likes of Kevin Holland, Gilbert Burns and Jingliang Li.

A former middleweight champion, Whittaker was successful in his first appearance of 2024, earning a three-round verdict against Paulo Costa at UFC 298. The 33-year-old is16-5 during a tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion that began in 2012.

Pavlovich will be competing for the first time since UFC 295, when he suffered a 69-second knockout loss to Tom Aspinall in an interim heavyweight title tilt. Prior to that defeat, the Russian had defeated six consecutive Octagon opponents via first-round knockout.

Volkov, meanwhile, has won three straight outings since falling to Aspinall at UFC Fight Night 204. “Drago” is coming off a second-round submission win against Tai Tuivasa at UFC 293 this past September.

BOOOOOOM!!!!!!

UFC is heading to Saudi Arabia for the first time with a BAD ASS card, headlined by Whittaker vs Chimaev LIVE and FREE on ABC on June 22nd pic.twitter.com/2OZW2AEmLH

— danawhite (@danawhite) March 28, 2024