Israel Adesanya is coming back — and he is coming back against one of the most dangerous strikers in the sport, on a date DAOS fans already have circled.
The UFC announced during the UFC Vegas 124 broadcast that former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will return against "Shara Bullet" Shara Magomedov in the five-round main event of UFC Saudi Arabia on Saturday, December 5, 2026, inside ANB Arena in Riyadh. The card's co-main event will also run five rounds, with recent welterweight title challenger Ian Machado Garry colliding with former Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov.
Adesanya (24-6) needs this win badly. "The Last Stylebender" has lost four straight fights — surrendering his middleweight title to Sean Strickland, then suffering three straight stoppage losses against Dricus Du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov and Joe Pyfer. The 37-year-old has not won since knocking out Alex Pereira to reclaim the middleweight championship in April 2023. This will also be his first appearance since leaving longtime head coach Eugene Bareman and City Kickboxing, the gym that built him from kickboxing standout into one of the greatest middleweights of all time.
Magomedov (17-1) is the wrong man to face when you are trying to stop a skid. "Shara Bullet" is riding back-to-back wins over Marc-Andre Barriault and Michel Pereira, and he has compiled an impressive 6-1 UFC record, with his lone professional loss coming against Michael "Venom" Page in Saudi Arabia in February 2025. This is easily the biggest opportunity of Magomedov's career and a chance to add one of the greatest middleweights of all time to his resume.
The co-main event is a banger in its own right. Garry (17-2) returns for the first time since unsuccessfully challenging Islam Makhachev for the welterweight championship at UFC 330. Before that loss, "The Future" scored consecutive victories over Carlos Prates and Belal Muhammad. Amosov (30-1) has looked phenomenal since joining the UFC, submitting Neil Magny and Joel Alvarez in his first two Octagon appearances. The former Bellator welterweight champion's only professional defeat came against Jason Jackson in November 2023.
UFC Saudi Arabia will serve as the promotion's final Fight Night event of 2026, taking place one week before UFC 335 in Las Vegas. And for DAOS, the date matters twice: December 5 is the same night as the DAOS Party at Row House in Harlem. Fight fans in New York will have a full day of it — the party in Harlem, and Izzy fighting for his career in Riyadh.
The DAOS take: this is the most important fight of Adesanya's career, and it is not close. Four straight losses, a new camp, a 37-year-old legend fighting a hungry striker who has never been in a bigger spot. Shara Bullet throws kicks like he is trying to break the sound barrier, and Izzy's whole game has always been built on making aggressive strikers pay for every step forward. If the old Stylebender shows up, this is a classic. If he does not, December 5 in Riyadh becomes the night the sport officially moved on. Either way, you do not miss it.
Sources: MMA Mania
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