A light-heavyweight fight between former champion Magomed Ankalaev and Khalil Rountree will headline UFC Fight Night 282 on July 25th in Abu Dhabi, while Umar Nurmagomedov vs. David Martinez serves as the co-main event.

The 33-year-old Ankalaev will be returning to the Octagon for the first time since losing the 205lb title in a rematch with Alex Pereira last October in which he suffered a TKO loss just 80 seconds into the fight.

Prior to that Ankalaev had been unbeaten in 14 fights, with his only other defeat in the UFC having come in literally the last second of his promotional debut against Paul Craig back in 2018.

Still currently ranked as the No.1 contender, Ankalaev will now go up against the No.5 placed Rountree, who has last two of his last three fights.

That started with the 36-year-old being TKO’d by Alex Pereira in 2024, while last year he beat former champ Jamahal Hill by decision, before suffering a KO loss to Jiri Prochazka.

Meanwhile, down at bantamweight, Umar Nurmagomedov features in the co-main event against David Martinez.

The 30-year-old Nurmagomedov was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the 135lb title against Merab Dvalishvili at the start of last year, but has since got back to winning ways with unanimous decision wins against Mario Bautista and Deiveson Figueiredo, taking his overall career record to 20-1.

Now the No.2 ranked Nurmagomedov will fight Martinez, who has gone 3-0 in the UFC so far to take the No.9 spot on the ladder.

The 27-year-old Martinez’s UFC run began with a 1st round KO finish of Salmon Oliveira, followed by two unanimous decision victories over Rob Font and Marlon Vera.