The fight night will be UFC’s maiden event in Qatar, making it the third Middle Eastern country to host the leading MMA promotion.
Lightweight contenders Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker will headline the first-ever Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Qatar.
UFC’s Chief Executive Officer Dana White announced the main and co-main events on Wednesday for the UFC Fight Night set to be held on November 22.
Former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad will face sixth-ranked Ian Machado Garry in the co-main event at the Ali bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Arena.
The headliner will feature both fighters for the first time in 2025.
Tsarukyan had pulled out of the title clash against then-champion Islam Makhachev in January due to a back injury. Hooker had also pulled out of the same event, UFC 313, continuing his injury-marred spell that has seen him fight just two times in as many years.
Muhammad, on the other hand, will be seeking a shot at redemption after losing his title to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 316.
Machado Garry, who defeated Carlos Prates via decision in Kansas City, will be looking to keep his 2025 record perfect.
While several reports have mentioned bouts for the event, the promotion company has yet to make them official.
Qatar will be the third Middle Eastern country — 32nd overall — to host the leading mixed martial arts event, following the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
White, the CEO, had first revealed that talks were ongoing to host a “stadium show” in Qatar, following the UFC Fight Night 250 in Saudi Arabia.
“We started this whole thing over in Abu Dhabi, came over here [Saudi] and did this, and we’re talking to Qatar right now too,” White said in February earlier this year.
The decision was later made official in July with a partnership between UFC and the country’s tourism promotion wing, Visit Qatar.
Qatar has already hosted multiple ONE Championship events in the past, the most recent one being ONE 171: Qatar at the Lusail Sports Arena on February 20. It was the combat sports promotion organisation’s second event, following its maiden voyage in 2024.
The Gulf nation is also set to host a major boxing event annually as part of a sponsorship agreement with The Ring, a premier boxing publication.
