UFC Abu Dhabi: “Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov” Fight Card and Start Times

The UFC Abu Dhabi ‘Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov’ fight card and start times have been announced by the promotion.

UFC Abu Dhabi will take place on Saturday, August 3rd at the Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

This will be the second event in the UAE capital in less than a year.

Timing for the highly anticipated event will see the Preliminaries begin at 12:00pm ET on ABC/ESPN+ , with the Main Card starting at 3:00pm on ESPN2/ESPN+.

The main event will feature a bantamweight bout between Cory Sandhagen (17-4 MMA) and the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA).

‘Sandman’ will be coming into the bout have won his last three fights in the Octagon. The 32-year-old defeated Yadong Song (21-8 MMA), Marlon Vera (23-9 MMA) and most recently Rob Font (20-8 MMA).

The 28-year-old Russian has yet to suffer a loss under the UFC banner. Nurmagomedov last fought and defeated Bekzat Almakhan (11-2 MMA) this past March by unanimous decision.

UFC Abu Dhabi is co-headlined by a welterweight bout featuring MMA legend Nick Diaz taking on Vicente Luque.

Diaz (26-10 MMA) last fought at UFC 266 in September of 2021, where he suffered a TKO loss to former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.

Meanwhile, Vicente Luque (22-10-1 MMA) most recently competed back in March of this year, where he suffered a TKO loss at the hands of Joaquin Buckley.

The current lineup for UFC Abu Dhabi is:

• Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
• Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque
• Marlon Vera vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Loopy Godinez
• Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Chiesa
• Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Guram Kutateladze
• Alonzo Menifield vs. Azamat Murzakanov
• Victoria Dudakova vs. Sam Hughes
• Azat Maksum vs. CJ Vergara

Are you looking forward to UFC Abu Dhabi? What other fights would you like to see added to the August 3rd card?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!