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The UFC Octagon touches down in Saudi Arabia this Saturday (June 22) for a stacked UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

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The main event was supposed to see the unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev square off with former Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker, but health issues unfortunately forced “Borz” to withdraw less than two weeks before the event. Ikram Aliskerov was luckily able to step up and replace Chimaev on short notice, and now Aliskerov will look to break into the UFC rankings when he faces Whittaker.

The night’s co-main event is a massive heavyweight tilt featuring Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov. Pavlovich is coming off a failed bid to win the interim heavyweight belt against Tom Aspinall at UFC 295, while Volkov has climbed to #5 in the UFC heavyweight rankings thanks to a three-fight win streak where he’s finished every opponent he’s faced.

The rest of the main card will see Kelvin Gastelum and Daniel Rodriguez square off in a middleweight bout after Gastelum had difficulties making the cut to welterweight. Shara Magomedov will also welcome Antonio Trócoli to the Octagon after the Brazilian stepped in to replace Joilton Lutterbach. Light heavyweights Johnny Walker and Volkan Oezdemir will kick off the main card, and the UFC Saudi Arabia prelims are also loaded with intriguing matchups that fight fans won’t want to miss.

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Gastelum’s fight week request for the Rodriguez matchup to be contested at middleweight aside, all fighters scheduled to compete at UFC Saudi Arabia successfully made weight for their respective bouts.

The prelims for UFC Saudi Arabia are set to kick off at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday and will be available on ESPN and ESPN+ for viewers in the United States before the main card starts at 3:00 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN+. Be sure to check back on this page for all of the live results and highlights from the action once the event starts!

Main Card (ABC/ESPN+, 3:00 p.m. ET)

Main Event: Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov

Co-Main Event: Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov

• Kelvin Gastlum vs. Daniel Rodriguez

• Shara Magomedov vs. Antonio Trócoli

• Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+ 12:00 p.m. ET)

• Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon

• Muhammad Naimov vs. Felipe Lima

• Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby

• Muin Gafurov vs. Kyung Ho Kang

• Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Brendson Ribeiro

• Long Xiao vs. Chang Ho Lee

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This article first appeared on MMA on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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