The UFC is bringing a stacked fight night to the UAE and it features several big names in high stakes bouts this Saturday at UFC Abu Dhabi.
This Saturday’s UFC Fight Night from Abu Dhabi is being celebrated as one of the most loaded events to come to network television in large part to the amount of star power and storylines going into the event.
A bigger narrative going into the event is the continued growth of combat sports in the Middle East. While the world of boxing has seen several big events come to the region in the past several years, the sport of mixed martial arts is now starting to have a moment with both the UFC and the PFL hosting loaded events in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Notably, after hosting pay-per-view events annually for the past several years, this is the first Fight Night event to be held in Abu Dhabi since 2020 when there was a limited audience due to the pandemic.
From a Jiu-Jitsu ace with a huge match on deck, to what could be the swan song for a beloved favorite, and finally a test between two of the world’s top bantamweights, here are the top five storylines going into UFC Abu Dhabi:
5. Mackenzie Dern’s Big UFC Fight Ahead of CJI Super Fight
Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Mackenzie Dern has long been one of the UFC’s most popular contenders. With her share of headliners and ranked opponents on her resume, Dern’s addition to this Saturday’s fight night was no coincidence as her involvement makes the card a bigger event. Not only that, she is in a key bout where she’s looking to get back in the win-column against a tough proven veteran in Loopy Godinez.
But as big as Saturday’s fight night may be to her MMA career, arguably the most interesting match on Dern’s calendar is her grappling super fight with jiu-jitsu dynamo Ffion Davies. While the match itself may not be drawing the greater sporting world’s attention like Dern’s MMA fight will, the match with Davies is the co-headliner of Craig Jones’ new promotion: The Craig Jones Invitational. For those who may be unaware of its significance, celebrated grappler Craig Jones created the event and raised the capital to make it the highest paying Jiu-Jitsu event in the world and has already drawn away several big names from the celebrated ADCC tournament that has long been the number one event to win in the sport.
There’s plenty of reason to believe Dern vs Godinez will be a scrap. While the two sports are very different, there is still the risk that Dern could hurt herself during the course of her fight on Saturday that puts one of the most anticipated women’s grappling matches in years in jeopardy.
