The UFC has added a big bantamweight contender fight to its upcoming Abu Dhabi pay-per-view event.
For the first time since his January title fight loss, Umar Nurmagomedov will compete when he battles rising contender Mario Bautista at UFC 321 on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi. UFC CEO Dana White announced the bout Thursday evening on Instagram Live.
Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) aims to bounce back from his first career loss, a close unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili in a UFC bantamweight title fight in January. Prior to that fight, Nurmagomedov defeated Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision.
Training under John Crouch at the MMA Lab, Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has been on a tremendous run of success. Since a March 2021 loss, Bautista has rattled off eight-straight wins, including recent victories over Jose Aldo and Patchy Mix.
With the addition, the UFC 321 lineup includes:
- Champ Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane – for heavyweight title
- Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern – for vacant women’s strawweight title
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista
- Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida
- Aleksandar Rakic vs. Azamat Murzakanov
- Azat Maksum vs. Mitch Raposo
- Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Chris Barnett
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Jun Yong Park
- Jaqueline Amorim vs. Mizuki Inoue
- Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Matheus Camilo
