UFC on ABC: Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder Main Card Preview & Breakdown

Generally, these ‘Fight Night’ non-pay-per-view cards are pretty tame and held in front of almost no audience at the UFC Apex. Not this edition of UFC on ABC on July 26. This card is taking place at the familiar Etihad Arena in the United Arab Emirates. This will be the 21st visit by UFC to Etihad Arena, most in the last four years since the Arena was completed in 2021. 

We’ve got two ranked bouts featuring top five guys in the main and co-main event. In the headliner, No. 5 middleweight Robert “Bobby Knuckles” Whittaker takes on No. 12 Reinier de Ridder. In the co-main, former bantamweight champ and No. 3 contender Petr Yan fights No. 13 Marcus McGhee.

Even the unranked bouts are interesting, with Bryce Mitchell fighting Said Nurmagomedov in a bantamweight scrap and Sharabutdin Magomedov duking it out with Marc-Andre Barriault in the card opener. 

Here’s everything you need to know about this quartet of fights! And don’t forget, with this event out in Abu Dhabi, the main card gets going at 3 pm E.T. sharp!

Main Event: No. 5 Robert Whittaker vs. No. 12 Reinier de Ridder – Ranked Middleweight Bout

Robert Whittaker (26-8) comes into this fight at a significant disadvantage in nearly every category. He’s six-foot tall, but Reinier de Ridder (20-2) is a massive 6’4”. Whittaker’s 73.5-inch reach will also be comparatively small, with the “The Dutch Knight” checking in at 79 inches. Both men will be 34 years old when they enter the octagon on July 26.

Whittaker will look to bounce back after a somewhat embarrassing showing against Khamzat Chimaev, who blitzed the Aussie in the first round to get a first-round face crank finish. Bobby is 3-2 since he lost that title fight to Israel Adesanya in 2022. De Ridder, meanwhile, has won all three of his UFC fights since joining the promotion last fall.

De Ridder has finished 13 of his 20 wins via submission, so Whittaker will be on the lookout for the takedown for sure. However, he’s top 10 in takedown defense among middleweights (over 77 percent), so the Dutchman will be hard-pressed to get him down. Borz is the only one to take Bobby Knuckles down in his last five fights.

If we were making UFC predictions, we would want to side with Bobby Knuckles not only for nostalgia, but also because this seems a good opportunity for him to bounce back. Sportsbooks have him listed as the slight favorite as well, so we’re not alone.

Co-Main Event: No. 3 Petr Yan vs. No. 13 Marcus McGhee – Ranked Bantamweight Bout

In the co-main event, Petr Yan (18-5) and Marcus McGhee (10-1) match up pretty well physically. Yan, at 5’7”, is the shorter man by one inch, while McGhee also enjoys a two-inch reach advantage, 67” to 69”. However, despite a much longer and more distinguished career for Yan, at 32 he is three years younger than McGhee.

McGhee has won all four of his UFC bouts, finishing his first three and winning a decision over Jonathan Martinez most recently. Yan, meanwhile, has won his last two straight against much tougher competition in Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo. Some were worried after he lost three tough decisions (Merab, O’Malley, Sterling), but the Russian seems like he’s back. This is McGhee’s first real UFC challenge (he is a huge underdog), and boy is it a big one.

Bryce Mitchell vs. Said Nurmagomedov – Bantamweight Bout

Bryce “Thug Nasty” Mitchell (17-3) comes in at 5’9” with a 70-inch reach. Said Nurmagomedov (18-4) counters with a 5’8” frame and an identical 70-inch reach. The Dagestani fighter is the older by three years, with Mitchell still just 30 years old despite seven years in the UFC.

Mitchell was finished by red hot Jean Silva in his most recent bout in April, and he has alternated wins and losses over his last six. He has earned impressive wins over Dan Ige and Edson Barboza during that time. Nurmagomedov is not quite living up to his family name, as he has lost two of his last three against less than celebrated competition.

Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Marc-Andre Barriault – Middleweight Bout

In the main card opener, we get one of the most intriguing fighters in MMA in Sharabutdin Magomedov (15-1) taking on a Canadian sensation in Marc-Andre Barriault (17-9, 1 NC). Shara “Bullet” would seem to have a lot of advantages here: he is taller than Barriault by one-inch (6’2” vs. 6’1”) and at 31 years old, is four years younger than Barriault. Both have 73-inch reaches. 

His only disadvantage is that Shara is blind in his right eye. Because of that blindness, he is not allowed to fight in the U.S. Yet somehow, he remains a sniper, with his 62.4 percent significant striking accuracy ranking him second in his weight class.

Shara will be looking to avenge his first career loss the last time he fought, when he dropped a decision to the unorthodox and unpredictable Michael Page. He has otherwise been dominant since joining the UFC, winning his first four fights, and generally doing so in dominant fashion. 

Barriault bounced back with a big-time upset against Bruno Silva in his last fight just two months ago in May. But he’d lost three straight before that (two by first-round knockout) and seems to be on the downturn.

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.

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