Khamzat Chimaev looks to cement his first UFC title shot when he faces his stiffest test to date against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a five-round headliner in June. “Borz” and “The Reaper” share the promotion’s latest event poster.
Whittaker and Chimaev meet in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia, which takes place June 22 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Check out the official UFC Saudi Arabia poster below.
When UFC CEO Dana White announced the bout, he stated that the winner will fight for the 185-pound title in their next appearance. As history shows, that’s not always set in stone — most notably with Chimaev’s recent win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, which was also announced as a No. 1 contender fight before the event this past October. Chimaev defeated Usman via majority decision in his return to middleweight to improve his pro record to 13-0.
Whittaker bounced back from a stoppage loss to now-champ Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290 with a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa at February’s UFC 298 event.
UFC Saudi Arabia also features a pivotal fight in the heavyweight division between recent interim title challenger Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov.