It’s no secret Dana White has been waiting and preparing for the UFC’s first ever event in Saudi Arabia for years. And when the fight between two of the most exciting and loved fighters on the roster, Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker, was announced, it seemed like we had quite the weekend to look forward to.
Alas, it was not meant to be.
Not only has Khamzat pulled out of his eagerly anticipated matchup for relatively undisclosed reasons, but his coach posted this cryptic photo to his instagram story showing Khamzat in the hospital, so something has clearly happened.
On top of that, the event has lost an additional 6 fights. Sedriques Dumas posted on X that his fight with Denis Tiuliulin is canceled.
Sorry to my fans and teams. The fight has been postponed because of VA and flight reasons. Stay tuned. We should have a soon date available soon. Hope we can ride it back.
— Sd Thereaperufc (@SdUnbroken) June 17, 2024
Here is Dana White discussing the fight changes on his personal Instagram account.
Failed blood tests, undisclosed medical emergencies, and a myriad of bizarre reasons has resulted in the current situation. Either way, Whittaker fighting a plastic bag would still be exciting, along with several other fights of the night. Still, this will undoubtedly leave quite the stinging blemish on Dana’s eagerly anticipated KSA coming out party.
See the full updated fight card for UFC Saudi Arabia, taking place on Saturday, June 22, as of today:
- 185 lbs.: Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov
- 265 lbs.: Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov
- 170 lbs.: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- 205 lbs.: Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir
- 205 lbs.: Shara Magomedov vs. Joilton Lutterbach
- 135 lbs.: Farid Basharat vs. Montel Jackson
- 155 lbs.: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon
- 135 lbs.: Kyung Ho Kang vs. Muin Gafurov
- 170 lbs.: Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby
- 205 lbs.: Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
- 145 lbs.: Muhammad Naimov vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
- 185 lbs.: Abu Azaitar vs. Denis Tiuliulin
- 135 lbs.: Xiao Long vs. Chang Ho Lee
