UFC Abu Dhabi reportedly loses massive fight less than two weeks before event

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 2:46 PM ET

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UFC Abu Dhabi has lost arguably its most highly-anticipated fight less than two weeks out from the event.

The UFC returned from a rare off week last weekend with UFC Nashville, which kicked off a three-week road trip for the promotion that continues this Saturday when Dustin Poirier closes out his MMA career against Max Holloway at UFC 318 in New Orleans, LA.

Things shift to the Middle East next weekend when the UFC returns to Abu Dhabi, where Reinier de Ridder will try to extend a perfect start to his UFC career when he takes on former middleweight king Robert Whittaker in the night’s main event.

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Movsar Evloev Reportedly Withdraws From UFC Abu Dhabi

UFC Abu Dhabi boasts one of the more stacked main cards in recent memory for a UFC Fight Night event, but this week Vestnik MMA reported that Movsar Evloev has apparently withdrawn from a planned five-round co-main event with Aaron Pico due to undisclosed reasons.

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Easily the most-high profile bout on UFC Abu Dhabi outside of the middleweight headliner, the featherweight matchup would have seen former Bellator star Pico make his highly-anticipated debut against the division’s #2-ranked contender.

Aaron Pico Fight Could Be Rescheduled For Later Date

A perfect 19-0 in his professional MMA career, Evloev is coming off a unanimous decision victory over former UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 300.

The 31-year-old boasts nine Octagon victories but is still hunting for his first crack at UFC gold. A win over Pico would presumably have put Evloev in line to challenge Alexander Volkanovski, but the fight also presented an opportunity for Pico to immediately vault to the front of the featherweight pecking order in his first UFC appearance.

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The report from Vestnik MMA notes that Evloev vs. Pico may end up being rescheduled for a later date, and if the five-round featherweight clash is in fact off then UFC Abu Dhabi will be left with 12 scheduled fights.

• Main Event: Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder

• Shara Magomedov vs. Marc-Andre Barriault

• Petr Yan vs. Marchus McGhee

• Bryce Mitchell vs. Said Nurmagomedov

• Ibo Slan vs. Billy Elekana

• Nikita Krylov vs. Bogdan Guskov

• Amanda Ribas vs. Tabatha Ricci

• Muslim Salikhov vs. Carlos Leal

• Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Davey Grant

• Mohammad Yahya vs. Steven Nguyen

• Martin Buday vs. Marcus Buchecha

• Asu Almabayev vs. Jose Ochoa