Israel Adesanya Opens as Favorite in UFC Saudi Arabia Headliner

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya opened as the betting favorite to win his main event fight at UFC Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, the promotion officially announced that it is going to ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 5 for the penultimate UFC event of 2026. In the main event of the evening, Adesanya will face Shara Magomedov in a five-round middleweight bout, while the co-headliner is a five-round welterweight matchup between Ian Machado Garry and Yaroslav Amosov.

Israel Adesanya Favored to Defeat Shara Magomedov at UFC Saudi Arabia

Per FightOdds.io, Adesanya is favored to beat Magomedov in the UFC Saudi Arabia headliner.

Israel Adesanya -205 Shara Magomedov +173

Adesanya is obviously the bigger name of the two fighters, and he has far more experience fighting in five-round UFC main events. But the former middleweight champ has lost four fights in a row and has been getting finished quite often as of late, having been stopped in his last three bouts.

As for Magomedov, he has won six of his seven fights in the UFC, and he is coming off back-to-back decision wins over Michel Pereira and Marc-Andre Barriault. He also possesses huge knockout power and has the ability to put anyone in the division away if he lands on their chin.

This UFC Saudi Arabia main event is a very intriguing fight, and could arguably be a must-win fight for Adesanya, as a fifth straight defeat could have him contemplating retirement from MMA.

Ian Machado Garry Favored to Beat Yaroslav Amosov

In the co-main event, Machado Garry is the favorite to beat Amosov.

Ian Machado Garry -185 Yaroslav Amosov +157

Machado Garry is coming off a disappointing decision loss to Islam Makhachev in a failed bid to become the new UFC welterweight champion at UFC 330, but he is still one of the best welterweights in the game today.

As for Amosov, he is 2-0 so far in the UFC with submission wins over Neil Magny and Joel Alvarez. If he can go in there and take out Machado Garry, there is a chance that Amosov could potentially get a UFC welterweight title shot in 2027.