UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. de Ridder

UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. de Ridder (also known as UFC on ABC 9) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 26, 2025, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.^[2]

UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. de Ridder
The poster for UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. de Ridder
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	July 26, 2025 (2025-07-26)
Venue	Etihad Arena
City	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Attendance	Not announced[1]
Event chronology
UFC 318: Holloway vs. Poirier 3 UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. de Ridder UFC on ESPN: Taira vs. Park

Background

The event marked the promotion's 21st visit to Abu Dhabi and first since UFC 308 in October 2024.^[2]

A middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) Robert Whittaker and former ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion Reinier de Ridder headlined the event.^[3]

A featherweight bout between Movsar Evloev and promotional newcomer Aaron Pico was scheduled to take place in a five round co-headliner.^[4] They were briefly expected to meet at UFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Morales in May, but it did not come to fruition.^[5] In turn, under two weeks prior to this event, Evloev had to withdraw due to an injury and the pairing was scrapped.^[6]

A women's strawweight bout between Amanda Ribas and Tabatha Ricci took place at this event.^[7] The bout was originally scheduled for UFC 318 one week before but was moved to this event for unknown reasons.^[8]

Asu Almabayev and Ramazan Temirov were expected to face each other in a flyweight bout on the preliminary card.^[9] However, Temirov pulled out due to failing a drug test in early July and was replaced by Jose Ochoa.^[10]

Results

Main card (ABC / ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Reinier de Ridder	def.	Robert Whittaker	Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47)	5	5:00
Bantamweight	Petr Yan	def.	Marcus McGhee	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Sharabutdin Magomedov	def.	Marc-André Barriault	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Asu Almabayev	def.	José Ochoa	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Light Heavyweight	Bogdan Guskov	def.	Nikita Krylov	KO (punches)	1	4:18
Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+)
Bantamweight	Bryce Mitchell	def.	Said Nurmagomedov	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Muslim Salikhov	def.	Carlos Leal Miranda	KO (punch)	1	0:42
Bantamweight	Davey Grant	def.	Da'Mon Blackshear	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Women's Straweight	Tabatha Ricci	def.	Amanda Ribas	TKO (elbow and punches)	2	2:59
Light Heavyweight	Billy Elekana	def.	İbo Aslan	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Steven Nguyen	def.	Mohammad Yahya	TKO (eye injury)	2	5:00
Heavyweight	Martin Buday	def.	Marcus Buchecha	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00

^[11]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.^[12]

• Fight of the Night: Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Marc-André Barriault
• Performance of the Night: Muslim Salikhov and Steven Nguyen

See also

• Martial Arts portal

• 2025 in UFC
• List of current UFC fighters
• List of UFC events