Taking place this Saturday in Doha, Qatar, UFC Fight Night will be hard-pressed to top the insane highs achieved the weekend earlier at UFC 322, as Madison Square Garden once again unveiled a contender for the event of the year.
But what lies ahead is a tricky and good card, headlined by leading contenders who have something to prove, and the results could potentially influence the selection of title matches in the top divisions in early 2026.
In the lightweight division, Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker return after long breaks, seeking to re-establish themselves at the top of the rankings and atone for status-damaging withdrawals. Tsarukyan was the pride of the division until he suffered an injury at the 11th hour during a nearly sixth-level weight cut at the first pay-per-view of the year. And Hooker was regaining his footing after a difficult period in the effects of the pandemic before repeated hand and arm injuries derailed the chase.
Meanwhile, at welterweight, Ian Machado Harry and Belal Muhammad will cap off an intense round-robin event that took place over the past few weekends and raised the bar in the UFC's most exciting division. Muhammad is fighting for the first time since losing his welterweight title and is attempting to make one last climb up the mountain. And Harry is hoping to knock off another top contender and insert himself right into the center of the title image.
Here's a closer look at what's at stake in this weekend's main and side events in the Middle East, where photos of the top two divisions could come into focus.
At the UFC 320 post-fight press conference, just days after the lightweight bout between Tsarukyan and Hooker was announced, UFC president Dana White was asked if the winner of that fight would become the No. 1 contender in the division.
“Yes,” White said. “Yeah.”
Now we know how things are in the UFC. This not so loud endorsement could easily be refuted with the words: “That was then, this is now.” The promotion might as well pretend nothing happened and go in a different direction for any one of a million and one reasons. There are no guarantees in this sport until a contract is signed. And even then…
Just look at Tsarukyan and Hooker themselves. They both had significant scheduled fights fall through earlier this year. Tsarukyan pulled out of his lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev less than 48 hours before UFC 311 due to a back injury. Meanwhile, Hooker pulled out of a fight with former interim champion Justin Gaethje at UFC 313 after breaking his hand in sparring just two weeks before fight night.
As such, the suggestion that whichever of these two emerges victorious from Saturday's bout will be the next to challenge Ilya Topuria for his title should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism. But even if this scenario does not materialize, there is a lot at stake.
Both fighters are looking to return to the top of the lightweight rankings after lengthy layoffs that have seen each fight only fought once since the start of 2024. The UFC wouldn't be happy if Hooker's injury was so close to his fight. So, how do you think they felt about Tsarukyan leaving the day after he left?
The 29-year-old is as versatile and experienced as any player in the division. But the circumstances of Tsarukyan's injury, which occurred in the final hours of his weight cut after he showed no signs of deterioration throughout fight week, remain unclear. There's a reason he went from a title shot to a showdown against one of the toughest guys in the division.
And over the past three years, this brutal guy has had more fights canceled due to injury (three) than actual fights (two). Hooker broke his right arm, both hands and his eye socket, and had several surgeries along the way. The 35-year-old can make as much of a bet as any other player on the roster that he will produce powerful power every time, and could easily challenge for the BMF title if his lighter weight doesn't work out. But the UFC needs him to be active if they're going to promote him properly.
So, is this the #1 contenders fight? May be. Will this be a very entertaining fight? Likely. Is it a fight for both? Certainly.
Machado Harry vs. Muhammad
It's been a big couple of weeks for the welterweight division. On Saturday he had a new champion in Makhachev, who moved up from lightweight to take on Jack Della Maddalena for the belt. He also picked up a pair of reported knockouts from top contenders, with Fighting Nerds product Carlos Rights burying Leon Edwards with a straight left and huge 25-year-old Michael Morales hitting Sean Brady.
The day before, Gabriel Bonfim made a statement against Randy Brown, and Uros Medic criticized Muslim Salikhov. Meanwhile, Kamaru Usman – the UFC's second-best welterweight champion behind Georges St-Pierre – is coming off a win over Joaquin Buckley. And undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, who looked like the most dangerous guy in the division before a knee injury that sidelined him since last December, is close to a return.
Now Harry, whose only career defeat came at the hands of Rakhmonov, gets another chance to remind the division of his all-round game while Muhammad, whose brief title reign was ended by Della Maddalena in May, tries to reassert himself. With so many moving parts and so many special appearances, future welterweight matches remain wide open. No one wants to be left behind in a crowd of applicants.
And this can happen even with a victory. Let's say Harry goes out by decision, as he has done in each of his last four wins. Will that be enough to separate himself from Price (whom he beat in one of those decisions) and Morales after the impressive, standout performances they put on at UFC 322?
“He's obviously incredible. He's 19-0. He's damn tough. He's got everything. You can check all the boxes with this guy,” White said of Morales last Saturday. “When you get these opportunities, you try to make the most of them. And there were a lot of them on the card (at UFC 322).”
Muhammad will also need a big win to regain his spot in the title photo. His wrestling-oriented style isn't the most interesting to casual fans, so he needed to build his professional record to 23-3, culminating with a 10-fight unbeaten streak over a five-year period before the UFC allowed him to compete for gold at welterweight for the first time.
With the loss to Della Maddalena still fresh in fans' minds, Saturday's decision win will do little to change Muhammad's case, likely leading to more fights with top contenders until he is the last one standing. At 37 years old, this is a difficult path.
Like it or not, expectations have increased significantly in the welterweight division, which has suddenly become the UFC's hottest division. A crowded dozen of legitimate contenders with solid credentials are vying for the position behind the sport's pound-for-pound best, Makhachev, who just won the title. And Harry and Mohammed will need something special on Saturday to stand out.
