Israel Adesanya will try to end the longest losing streak of his career on Dec. 5 in Riyadh, where he meets Sharabutdin Magomedov in the main event of a UFC Fight Night. The UFC confirmed the middleweight bout during the UFC Vegas 124 broadcast, according to Sherdog.
The fight had been rumored for weeks. AgentMMA relayed a report from Ariel Helwani on Oct. 15 that the two were headed for the card. Now it is official, and the stakes are plain for a former two-time middleweight champion.
Four losses and counting
Adesanya, 24-6 overall and 13-6 in the UFC, has not won since April 2023, when he knocked out Alex Pereira in their UFC 287 rematch to regain the title. Since then he has lost four straight, per Sherdog:
Sean Strickland, by unanimous decision at UFC 293, which cost him the belt.
Dricus Du Plessis, by fourth-round submission at UFC 305.
Nassourdine Imavov, by second-round finish at UFC Saudi Arabia in February 2025.
Joe Pyfer, by second-round TKO in Seattle in March 2026.
Those fight details come from EssentiallySports, which also notes that Adesanya is 37 and ranked No. 9 at middleweight. The Pyfer loss came against a lower-ranked opponent: Adesanya was ranked fourth going in, and Pyfer fourteenth.
The same report points to the fan reaction. Some say that if Adesanya loses to Magomedov, he should hang it up. That is opinion, not a decision from Adesanya or the UFC, but it shows how much this fight carries for his legacy.
The man across the cage
Magomedov is 32 and 17-1, with 12 of his wins by KO or TKO, according to his Sherdog profile. He is 6-1 in the UFC, and his one loss was a unanimous decision to Michael Page in February 2025. He has since beaten Marc-Andre Barriault (July 2025) and Michel Pereira (June 2026), both by unanimous decision.
His best highlight remains the October 2024 knockout of Armen Petrosyan at UFC 308, ended with spinning backfists in the second round. He has also called out Adesanya, according to EssentiallySports.
The recent wins matter in one way. Magomedov has gone the distance in his last two fights, so he arrives a little less of a pure finisher than his record suggests. Still, a 17-1 fighter with that many stoppages is a real threat to a fighter who has been stopped in two of his last four.
What else is on the card
The five-round co-main event puts Ian Garry (17-2) against former Bellator titleholder Yaroslav Amosov (30-1) at 170 pounds. Amosov is 2-0 in the UFC, and Garry's last loss came to Islam Makhachev at UFC 330. The main card also includes Serghei Spivac vs. Mario Pinto, Levan Chokeli vs. Islam Dulatov, Mairon Santos vs. Akbar Abdullaev and Magomed Tuchalov vs. Ion Cutelaba, per Sherdog. The event streams live on Paramount+.
What to watch
For Adesanya, a fifth straight loss would be hard to frame as anything other than a serious blow to his contender status. A win would not fix everything, but it would end the streak and put him back in the middleweight conversation. For Magomedov, beating a former champion in a main event is the kind of result that moves a rising fighter up the rankings. Neither man can really lose gracefully here, which is why December 5 is worth circling.