| 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 | |||
| Venue | Etihad Arena | |||
| City | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |||
| Attendance | Not announced [1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
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]
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]
| 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 Strawweight | 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 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. [12]
